Meteor over Michigan caught on video. What to know

This story has been up to date to appropriate the date of the meteorite sighting.

An unconfirmed meteorite lit up the sky over Michigan on Sunday night, December 7 according to the Michigan Storm Chasersa bunch that tracks statewide climate and provides each day forecasts.

The meteor, which broke up and will have fallen to Earth, lit up the Michigan sky round 6 p.m. Video footage of the fireball was captured shared via social media.

The streaking object was seen throughout Michigan. A number of social media customers commented and shared images and movies of a phenomenal greenish object streaking by way of the sky.

What’s a meteorite?

A meteorite is a meteoroid that, based on NASA, survives the autumn to the Earth’s floor. Meteoroids that don’t hit the Earth are often known as meteors.

What’s a fireball? What’s the distinction between a fireball and a automotive?

A fireball is another term for a very bright meteor, usually brighter than magnitude minus 4, which is about the identical magnitude because the planet Venus within the morning or night sky, the American Meteorological Society explains. A bolide is a particular sort of fireball that explodes on the tip in a brilliant ultimate flash, usually with seen fragmentation.

“Our greatest estimates of the overall incoming meteoroid flux point out that roughly 10 to 50 falling meteorites happen over Earth every day,” the AMS mentioned. “Nevertheless, we should keep in mind that two-thirds of those occasions will happen over the ocean, whereas one other quarter will happen in very uninhabited land areas, leaving solely about 2 to 12 occasions every day with the potential to be found by people. Half of those once more happen on the evening facet of the Earth, with even much less likelihood of being seen. The mixture of all these components implies that solely a handful of noticed meteorite impacts happen annually.”

The place are you able to see meteors?

For those who’re hoping to see meteors streak throughout Michigan’s evening sky, search for a brilliant, open space.

Michigan is dwelling to 6 Darkish Sky State Parks, three Worldwide Darkish Sky Parks, and an Worldwide Darkish Sky Sanctuary.

• The Alpena space has three Darkish Sky Preserves: Rockport State Recreation Area, Thompson’s Harbor State Park And Negwegon State Park.
• In Mackinaw Metropolis, Headlands International Dark Sky Park15675 Headlands Rd.
• Within the realm, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore9922 Voorstraat.
• In Munising, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
• In paradise, the Great Lakes Museum and Whitefish Point Light Station18335 N. Whitefish Level Highway, and Tahquamenon Falls State Park at 41382 WM-123.
• In Port Austin, Port Crescent State Park1775 Port Austin Rd.
• In Clayton, Lake Hudson Recreation Area5505 Morey Hwy.
• Keweenaw Darkish Sky Park in Keweenaw County and Dr. TK Lawless Park in Cass County is a world place. And eventually, the Beaver Island State Wildlife Analysis Space is a world reserve.
• Within the Carp Lake, Wilderness State Park903 Wilderness Park Drive.

Do you assume you discovered a meteorite? What to do

In line with the United States Geological Survey, Individuals who discover meteorites ought to search for a number of properties to verify whether or not they’re correct:

• Thickness: Meteorites are normally fairly heavy for his or her dimension, as they comprise metallic iron and dense minerals.
• Magnetic: As a result of most meteorites comprise metallic iron, a magnet usually sticks to them. A magnet could not stick with ‘stony’ meteorites, however should you dangle the magnet on a string, it is going to be attracted.
• Uncommon form: iron-nickel meteorites are not often rounded. As a substitute, they’re irregularly formed with uncommon fingerprint-like pits of their surfaces, referred to as ‘regmaglypts’.
• Fusion crust: Stony meteorites usually have a skinny crust on their floor the place it melted because it handed by way of the environment.