The fireball that crossed the skies on the East Coast on Tuesday afternoon was caused by a meteor, NASA says.
The celestial event took place at 2:34 p.m., with the meteor traveling 117 miles southwest at a speed of 30,000 mph, scientists said. It fell from 48 miles above Mastic Beach, Long Island, to 27 miles above Galloway, New Jersey — near Atlantic City. Scientists based these estimates on eyewitness accounts and footage from public access cameras.
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People reported the seeing the fireball in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania to the American Meteorological Society. Many also took to social media with videos of the event.
Meteoroids are small rocks, particles or other matter that travel through space. Often, they are pieces of a comet or asteroid.
They become meteors when they enter the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrate, creating a streak of light in the sky. Fireballs are the brightest meteors and are created by larger particles than those that cause typical meteors.
Because some meteors travel faster than the speed of sound, the heat and friction can cause a sonic boom as they pass by, as reported in one account of Tuesday’s meteor.
Fireballs peak in the northern hemisphere between February and April, NASA said. During this time, they appear 10% to 30% more frequently than at other times of the year. Astronomers don’t exactly know why this is, but some think that the Earth passes through more debris at this point in its orbit.
Meteors are common, but they often go by the ocean or unpopulated areas, making them seem more rare than they are. Many go by during the daytime, but most of those are very difficult to see, making Tuesday’s event unusual.