The U.K. experienced a bright fireball late at night on September 14.
Some people thought the ball of light might have been a piece of space junk. The fireball was caused by a small space rock that entered Earth's atmosphere.
From many more angles, we analysed it. A meteorite is definitely what it is. A piece of an asteroid broke off. John Maclean is an astronomer at the U.K. meteorite network. The U.K. meteorite network is made up of citizen scientists who use cameras around Britain to look for meteorites.
The meteorite flew into the air at a speed of 51,19 km/h.
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Scientists at the Network theorize that the space rock plummeted at an angle that carried it over Wales, the Irish Sea and Ireland. If the object wasn't completely destroyed in the atmosphere, small meteorites could have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean.
According to Steve Owens, an astronomer and Science Operations Manager at the Glasgow Science Centre in Scotland, the fireball was caused by a space rock the size of a golf ball.
The video of the fireball was posted on the U.K. Meteor Network's website.
One of the best videos of the fireball seen tonight. We are investigating to ascertain what the object was. meteor or space debris. https://t.co/Ko1lKRoPutSeptember 14, 2022
You can see more.
Owens said that the thing last night was bigger than a little bit of dust which causes normal shooting stars.
Most of the fiery rocks that burn over the open sea on Earth are not seen by humans. Small rocks like Wednesday night's bombard Earth's atmosphere every day, according to NASA. Over the past two decades, the U.S. government has seen over 600 fireballs caused by asteroids.
The European Space Agency and NASA watch the skies for asteroids. These rocks are similar to the solar system's planets and come within 30 million miles of Earth's equator. NASA has spotted more than 18,000 asteroids. Half of them are over 500 feet in length. According to NASA, there is no known threat to Earth in the next century.
It was originally published on Live Science
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