A space
rock exploded in the atmosphere, lighting up the sky over most of Utah just after
midnight on Wednesday, according to KSL News.
The news
station reportedly fielded hundreds of calls from skywatchers who spotted the fireball
from southern Utah to southern Idaho. Reports of observations have also come
from Las Vegas and other areas in California.
The meteor
exploded with the equivalent of 0.5 to 1 kilotons of TNT, according to
spaceweather.com. Then, about six hours later, a "twisting iridescent-blue
cloud" lit up the dawn sky for residents in Utah and Colorado.
Meteors are
fallen debris from a comet
or other space rock. As the debris enters the atmosphere, it heats up and
produces the brilliant
streaks of light we sometimes call shooting stars. Though most meteors are
destroyed during this process, some make it to the ground and are known as
meteorites.
However, a
NASA ambassador told KSL News the chances of finding a meteor rock from the
latest show are small.
"It
lasted for about eight to 10 seconds," skywatcher Don White, who was in Wyoming, told KSL News. "I think for about the last three to four seconds of that it
was as light as day. I could see the bushes off to the right of the road. It
was completely lit up. You'll see the meteors flying across the sky and
everything, but I've never seen one come that close."
Spaceweather.com
also suggests the fireball was not associated with the Leonid
meteor shower currently taking place.
To read the
full story and watch video clips of the fireball, check out KSL News coverage.
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