Watch The Astounding Moment A Meteoroid Bumps Against Earth’s Atmosphere
Image via Global Meteor Network
Last week, a meteoroid skimmed through Earth’s atmosphere and hopped off back into space. The event was captured by a camera from the Global Meteor Network.
The space rock was spotted in the skies above Northern Germany and the Netherlands. Researchers noted that the rock floated across Earth at 56 miles in altitude, which is beneath orbiting satellites in space.
Scientists explained that there are many small interplanetary objects entering Earth’s atmosphere every day. Some of the objects are commonly noted to be shooting stars.
However, this meteoroid was significant due to its size, proximity, and visibility. Dennis Vida, a physics postdoc from Western University in Ontario, Canada, stated that the rock could be traced to a Jupiter-family orbit, but a parent body search found no conclusive matches.
(2/2) It was on a Jupiter-family orbit (a = 2.56 AU, q = 0.29 AU, e = 0.88, i = 2.93, w = 239.67, O = 359.31). Parent body seach found no conclusive hits. pic.twitter.com/zk1pe8wvNr
— Denis Vida (@meteordoc) September 22, 2020
[via Science Alert, cover image via Global Meteor Network]
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