An ancient remnant from the formation of the solar system may have lit up the sky over Kingston this week. The Whig-Standard and a renowned local astronomer received reports of a glowing object falling to earth Monday evening. The skywatchers reported seeing what appeared to be a glowing object in the northwest sky that was plunging toward the ground around 10 p.m.
Two meteorites appear to have fallen to Earth in a week. The first - thought to have weighed 50 to 100 kilograms before it hit the atmosphere, and possibly hailing from beyond Jupiter - is believed to have landed in the waters of Georgian Bay 10 days ago, about 9 kilometres from the shore of Pointe au Baril. Just as the excitement of that fall was dying down, the University of Western Ontario began receiving calls from people in several Northern Ontario towns who saw a fiery flash in the early-afternoon sky last Monday.
The Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Western Ontario in London captured a webcam video on Wednesday March 5, 2008, at 10:59 p.m. EST of a large fireball on their network of cameras monitoring the sky for meteors. The department believes one or more possible meteorites may have fallen to the ground in the Parry Sound, Ontario area. Credit The University of Western Ontario
Astronomers at the University of Western Ontario are asking residents near the central Ontario town of Parry Sound to help find meteorites that may have recently fallen in the area. The astronomers have captured rare video of a meteor streaking through the Earth's atmosphere. They are hoping people in the area can help recover one or more possible meteorites that may have hit the ground.
Astronomers from The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, have captured rare video of a meteor falling to Earth. The Physics and Astronomy Department at Western has a network of all-sky cameras in Southern Ontario that scan the sky monitoring for meteors. Associate Professor Peter Brown, who specialises in the study of meteors and meteorites, says that Wednesday evening (March 5) at 10:59 p.m. EST these cameras captured video of a large fireball and the department has also received a number of calls and emails from people who actually saw the light. Brown along with Wayne Edwards, a post doctorate student, hope to enlist the help of local residents in recovering one or more possible meteorites that may have crashed in the Parry Sound area.
"Most meteoroids burn up by the time they hit an altitude of 60 or 70 kilometres from Earth. We tracked this one to an altitude of about 24 kilometres so we are pretty sure there are at least one, and possibly many meteorites, that made it to the ground" - Wayne Edwards.
Edwards says the lab can narrow the ground location where the meteorite would have fallen, to about 12 square kilometres and have created a map that may assist in locating the meteorite. The rock, or rocks, would probably weigh a kilogram or slightly more.
"We would love to find a recovered meteorite on this one, because we have the video and we have the data and by putting that together with the meteorite, there is a lot to be learned." University of Western Ontario.