[meteorite-list] Brilliant Meteor Streaks Over Northeastern US on May 17

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.space.com/32935-brilliant-meteor-fireball-over-us-northeast.html

Fireball! Brilliant Meteor Streaks Over Northeastern US 
By Elizabeth Howell
space.com
May 20, 2016

A huge fireball lit up the night sky over the northeastern United States 
Tuesday (May 17), sparking hundreds of reports by skywatchers lucky enough 
to have witnessed the dazzling meteor event. And if you want to go meteorite 
hunting, there may be a rich reward if you find a piece of the object.

Views of the fireball, including these awesome videos from police car 
dashcams in Maine and New York, show a brilliant streak across the late-night 
sky (it occured at 12:50 a.m. EDT, or 0450 GMT, on Tuesday). One particularly 
striking photo, included in this report, shows the fireball over the Piscataqua 
River in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and was captured by a Portsmouthwebcam.com 
camera by Mike McCormack.  

According to the American Meteor Society (AMS), two separate objects entered 
the Earth's atmosphere. The AMS posted screenshots on its website showing 
the fireball streaking across the sky. The fireball was best visible in 
Maine, but nearly 700 reports also poured in from eight neighboring states 
and two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec).  

The Maine Mineral and Gem Museum of Bethel, Maine, offered $20,000 to 
anyone who can find the first chunk of the meteorite that weighs at least 
a kilogram (2.2 lbs.). That meteorite, once confirmed, will be put on 
display in the museum's Meteorite Hall.

"It's clear that the meteoroid entered Earth's atmosphere over Maine and 
its terminal explosion occurred about 30 kilometers [18.6 miles] west 
of Rangeley, Maine, in Franklin County," the museum wrote in the press 
release.

"This is an exciting opportunity, and we need the public's help," Museum 
Director Barbra Barrett said in the statement. Coincidentally, the museum 
is working on implementing a statewide network of cameras to capture fireballs 
and better pin down their locations. The network will be ready in 2017, 
the museum said.

Fireballs occur when small objects (such as space rocks) break up high 
in the Earth's atmosphere. In this case, the fireball was too small to 
pose a threat to people or property. A much larger object caused broken 
glass and injuries after crashing down in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 
2013.

A meteor is a small space rock that streaks through Earth's atmosphere 
as a dazzling fireball. Meteoroids are small objects in space, while any 
pieces that reach the Earth are called meteorites.

Most meteors burn up before reaching the ground. Periodically, the Earth 
goes through a dust cloud left behind by a comet, which produces a series 
of meteors known as a meteor shower.

Editor's note: If you captured an awesome photo of Tuesday's meteor and 
would like to share it with Space.com and our news partners for a story 
or gallery, send images and comments in to Managing Editor Tariq Malik 
at: spacephotos at space.com. If you believe you have found a piece of a 
meteorite from the fireball, you can contact the Maine Mineral and Gem 
Museum at (207) 824-3036 or bbarrett at mainemineralmuseum.org.

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