Yet another large fireball startled residents of American cities, only two weeks after a spectacular meteor was seen over the greater Tucson area on June 23. This newest visitor from outer space lit up the skies over Pennsylvania and Maryland around 1 am on Monday, July 6 and is already being called, unofficially, the “Mason-Dixon Meteor.” Numerous area residents reported sonic booms. Those sounds can be caused when a meteor of substantial size decelerates suddenly as it travels through thickening atmosphere close to the surface of our planet, or by the meteor fragmenting in flight. If pieces of the meteor make it to the ground they become meteorites.

In an average year we might expect to record two or three large fireballs worldwide and perhaps one of them would produce meteorites. So, for those of us who research and recover space rocks, a meteorite-producing fireball is a significant event. In the past eight months there have been no less than five major fireballs seen over North America alone, and meteorites have been recovered from three of them so far.

So, what is happening up there in the night sky? This year, I have already been asked many times: “Why are there so many fireballs all of a sudden?” There are two possible explanations.

Before the rapid growth of the Internet and improvements in telecommunications, a fireball sighting would probably not have made the national news; only local residents would know about it. With listserves, bulletin boards, chat rooms, and online publications now dedicated to meteors and meteorites, reports of a new fireball event is disseminated rapidly to interested parties around the globe. In addition, it is conceivable that the Earth is currently traveling in a path that causes it to collide with more asteroid fragments than usual. Imagine driving along a clean, empty stretch of highway for hours and then suddenly encountering a field of debris from a wrecked car.

What’s the answer: better reportage of astral events, or more space junk? Personally, I think it’s a combination of the two.

While I am typing this, my friend, fellow meteorite specialist, and co-host of the Meteorite Men television show, Steve Arnold, is investigating the “Mason-Dixon Meteor” in person, so I expect to have some interesting news soon. Steve is requesting video footage of the Pennsylvania fireball in flight, as it may help him locate fragments from the fall. If you can help, please call him at (620) 770-9612.

Meanwhile, there seems to be an awful lot going on in our part of the cosmos, so watch the skies!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 5:24 pm and is filed under Meteorite Science, Technology. Tags for this post: bolide, July 6 Pennsylvania fireball, Maryland fireball, Mason-Dixon meteor, meteorite hunters, meteorite hunting, Meteorite Men, meteorites, Steve Arnold, Tucson fireball June 23. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.