According to NASA, a meteorite struck Earth’s atmosphere on Tuesday morning (July 16), causing a loud explosion that reverberated across New York City and parts of New Jersey.
Initially proposed preliminary estimates The meteor was moving northeast. It passed over the Statue of Liberty at approximately 11:17 a.m. EST, then disintegrated over midtown Manhattan. Estimates based on reports of a fireball, explosions, and tremors in the sky suggest that the meteorite entered the atmosphere over the Upper Bay and fell toward New York City at a speed of approximately 34,000 miles per hour (54,500 kilometers per hour).
But as people apply more Event Reporting NASA updated its model of the meteor’s trajectory throughout the day. “The meteor is currently moving westward from over New York City toward New Jersey,” a representative for NASA’s meteor watch said in a statement. Facebook Post“The speed increased slightly to 38,000 mph. [61,200 km/h]”
The meteorite was small, probably less than a foot (0.3 m) in diameter. William CookNASA’s Meteor Environment Program Manager ABC7 New YorkThe meteor was transformed into a fireball by the heat it generated at high speed, he said, adding: “We expect to see meteors in the evening.” [but] This is a rare daytime fireball because it’s not daytime.”
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Footage of the fireball was provided to the American Meteor Society by a resident of Northford, Connecticut, and shows a short white streak streaking across a blue sky.
According to ABC7 New York, the fireball did not produce a meteorite, meaning no pieces of space rock reached the ground, and there have been no reports of damage or injuries associated with the event.
Some people saw the fireball, while others only heard a roaring bang. Residents in Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and northern New Jersey reported a loud rumble and shaking, ABC7 New York reported. “My golden retriever jumped up and my cat ran under the couch,” Steven Bradley of Park Ridge, New Jersey, told the station.
Meteorologists told ABC7 New York that high temperatures on Tuesday morning may have contributed to the meteor’s sound traveling farther than expected: Sound waves travel faster through warm air than cold air, because the hotter the air molecules are, the more energy they have, and the faster they vibrate.
But the loud explosion could also have come from an entirely unrelated source, such as military activity taking place in New Jersey at the same time, Cook said.
