Asteroid hit Canada, may have dropped meteorites - EarthSky

I captured meteor #c8ff042 successful Brantford,Ontario Canada astatine with my GoPro
It was capturing 30sec shots each nighttime and got this changeable pic.twitter.com/grTgtPQreU

— Dereck Bowen (@dereckbowen) November 19, 2022

Asteroid deed Canada and whitethorn person dropped meteorites

Astronomers spotted an asteroid conscionable hours earlier it struck Earth Saturday greeting (November 19, 2022), adjacent Lake Erie successful Canada. This is not the archetypal time this twelvemonth astronomers person discovered a stone from abstraction conscionable hours earlier it deed Earth. But this time, it entered Earth’s ambiance implicit a populated area, crossing the skies of Toronto, Canada. So we person video and witnesses who saw, heard and felt the impact. And astronomers said locals whitethorn beryllium capable to find meteorites from the impact.

Western University successful Canada said that meteorites whitethorn person reached the crushed adjacent the confederate enactment of Lake Ontario, chiefly to the northbound of St. Catharines. Peter Brown of Western University said:

This fireball is peculiarly important arsenic the genitor meteoroid was observed telescopically earlier it deed the atmosphere. This makes it a uncommon accidental to nexus telescopic information of an asteroid with its breakup behaviour successful the ambiance to glean penetration into its interior structure.

Researchers asked locals betwixt Port Weller and Virgil, Ontario, to beryllium connected the lookout for fragments of the abstraction rock. Brown said:

We cognize from camera records and upwind radar which tracked falling debris from the fireball that meteorites astir surely made it to the crushed adjacent oregon eastbound of Grimsby. What we request present to implicit this communicative is to retrieve immoderate of these rocks and find retired what benignant of worldly made up asteroid 2022 WJ1. This is precise overmuch similar a illustration instrumentality abstraction mission, but successful this lawsuit the illustration fell connected us.

Read much astir however to find meteorites. And if you find any, interaction the Royal Ontario Museum astatine naturalhistory@rom.on.ca.

First study of the impending impact

Ye Quanzhi, a University of Maryland astronomer who studies asteroids, comets and meteors, reported connected Twitter astatine 1:13 a.m. EST connected November 19:

Looks similar a abstraction stone is going to autumn into Lake Erie country successful ~2 hours (about 3:30 americium EST)

He shared the link for NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies Hazard Assessment page. The object, C8FF042, is present removed from the leafage due to the fact that it has struck Earth and is truthful nary longer a threat.

Available now! 2023 EarthSky lunar calendar. A unsocial and beauteous poster-sized calendar showing phases of the satellite each nighttime of the year! Makes a large gift.

Precise prediction

At 2:29 a.m. EST, Richard Moissl tweeted that the asteroid should interaction astir 8:26 UTC, which translates to 3:26 a.m. EST. That turned retired to beryllium incredibly accurate, arsenic cameras astir Toronto captured the bolide astatine 3:25 and 3:26 a.m. The CN Tower cam successful Toronto was 1 of the cameras that saw the asteroid’s astir horizontal entry.

Another #imminent_impactor has been spotted ?
Likely little than 1 metre successful diameter, this volition go a beauteous and harmless fireball to observe. #C8FF042
Predicted clip of atmospheric introduction is 8:26 UTC, implicit the large lakes. pic.twitter.com/51F2YmtwBu

— Richard Moissl (@Richard_M_F) November 19, 2022

Well, here's a BEAUTIFUL presumption of the bolide from the camera that looks up astatine the Tower… pic.twitter.com/cxl1lrVeM8

— Scott Sutherland, Science Writer (he/him) (@ScottWx_TWN) November 19, 2022

Witnesses to the asteroid

Fortunately, the abstraction stone was little than a metre (about 3 feet) successful size. Impact should person been astir Brantford, Ontario. That’s northbound of Lake Erie; westbound of Buffalo, New York; eastbound of Detroit and southwest of Toronto. With specified a populated area, galore radical had the accidental to spot the fireball’s introduction into the atmosphere. People connected Twitter reported seeing the agleam flash of light, on with the dependable of atmospheric introduction and adjacent shaking, astir apt from the sonic boom. Twitter idiosyncratic @TimsDoubleD said:

I heard it and felt it astir similar my location moved. Thought a generator exploded nearby.

Twitter idiosyncratic @SchefflerKen said:

This would person been absorbing to see, but astatine slightest I got to perceive it. I had for immoderate crushed woken up and a fewer seconds aboriginal the location cracked arsenic it does erstwhile deed by a gust of upwind and past determination was a muffled rumble for 2 oregon 3 seconds.

Some observers reported the fireball astatine magnitude -10 to -20.

Those fewer hours of pb clip were capable that immoderate were capable to seizure C8FF042 with telescopes.

I OBSERVED THE METEOROID THAT JUST EXPLODED OVER LAKE ERIE (#C8FF042) WITH THE LOWELL DISCOVERY TELESCOPE WOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/2lJmo4udH8

— Dr. Teddy Kareta (@teddykareta) November 19, 2022

Did you spot it? You tin study the fireball with the American Meteor Society here.

Asteroid present named 2022 WJ1

David Rankin discovered asteroid C8FF042, which the Minor Planet Center has since named WJ1. The accusation astir the recently discovered asteroid circulated connected the Minor Planet Mailing List (MPML). It said:

Bill Gray has the interaction constituent astatine 19 Nov 2022 8:26:54.47 UTC, lat +43.12309, lon W80.26416, which is straight implicit Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

Sam Deen connected the MPML said:

The entity volition person a precise grazing interaction of conscionable 10-12 degrees oregon so, and should beryllium travelling WSW To ENE betwixt Detroit and Buffalo. We should astir apt expect a beauteous spectacular airy show, considering the debased space and precocious colonisation of the area.

More views from Twitter

My doorbell caught #C8FF042 entering the ambiance caput on. Really absorbing to spot from this angle. This was adjacent Crown Point East successful Hamilton, ON. pic.twitter.com/6sOO16TEXN

— Dave Dunville (@davedunville) November 19, 2022

#AsteroidImpact#Safe#Fireball#ShootingStar

?#C8FF042, Rob Weryk @UHawaiiNews https://t.co/KZiY2gU7kI pic.twitter.com/odZqphQKCj

— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) November 19, 2022

Last night, newly-discovered asteroid #C8FF042 flew implicit the United States earlier impacting Earth adjacent the Great Lakes. pic.twitter.com/vILyEVDZJi

— Tony Dunn (@tony873004) November 19, 2022

Bottom line: On November 19, 2022, a tiny asteroid deed Canada conscionable hours aft its discovery. Researchers are asking locals to beryllium connected the lookout for meteorites.