Large fireball lights up night skies over Argentina

April 22, 2013 – ARGENTINA – Thousands of residents of the Argentine city of Santiago del Estero in the early hours of Sunday morning caught a glimpse of a suspected meteor that lit up the sky above the city. The event took place at about 3:20 AM (local time). Argentine authorities believe the spectacular fireball was caused by a meteor entering the earth’s atmosphere and disintegrating. Some witnesses reported to local newspapers that they felt a slight tremor soon after seeing the meteorite. According to local media reports, police in the area were inundated with phone calls from frightened residents, and from parents who were worried about their children still out in the city’s bars and nightclubs. Meteors are small particles from the solar system that burn from friction when entering the atmosphere. According to the American Meteor Society, thousands of meteors of fireball magnitude occur every day, most of them unseen over the oceans or hidden by daylight. A similar event lit up the skies above 13 U.S. states on March 22. On February 15, a meteor exploded over Russia’s Ural Mountains and sent fireballs blazing to earth, injuring almost 1,200 people and causing approximately 33 million U.S. dollars in damages. –NTD

contribution Emanni