NASA will unveil the explosion over Vermont this week – BGR

As humans living on Earth, most days we can go about our lives without worrying about what might be crying elsewhere in our solars system . The Earth is incredibly fortunate to have a thick atmosphere that destroys most small debris before it reaches the ground and a magnetic field that protects us from dangerous radiation. It’s really nice down here on the surface … that is until an object succeeds by surviving its journey through the atmosphere and causing us ruckus, Earthlings.

That’s exactly what happened this week over Vermont, when a fireball – known to scientists as a bolide – went through the skies and exploded. The explosion was huge, and reports from the ground show that the panic struck homes and businesses and even caused an earthquake that was strong enough to be built by seismic equipment in the area. Now, NASA is giving us a closer look at the data and showing us how powerful the explosion really was.

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In a post on NASA’s Meteor Watch page on Facebook, the group says it has compiled more than 100 eyewitness reports about the fireball and used those to make its flight through space. to prove. His journey through the Earth’s atmosphere did not last long, however, as the friction was just too much to withstand, and the pressure to sustain the rock exceeded its ability to sustain itself. together.

NASA explains:

A solution based on more than 100 eyewitness reports does not significantly change the route, but reduces the speed down to 42,000 miles per hour (19 kilometers per second). As the object (which resembled a fragment of an asteroid) penetrated deeper into the atmosphere, pressure lifted in front of it while an empty part was formed behind it. About 30 miles up, the weight difference between front and back was higher than structural strength. The space rock shattered violently, emitting a crashing wave that lifted buildings and generated the sound that those near the path could hear. Such a pressure wave can enter the ground, causing a slight “vibration” that can pick up seismic instruments in the area; the wave itself can be detected by infrasound stations (low frequency sound that can travel great distances).

But that’s not it. In addition to determining the speed and trajectory of the object, NASA scientists were also able to determine the strength of the explosion and estimate the size of the fireball.

“As for last night, we received infrasound measurements from 3 nearby stations – amplitudes and length of the energy signals sent the fireball chip at 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of TNT,” NASA says . “We can combine this energy with the distance to get the mass and size of the object – 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) and 6 inches (15 centimeters) in diameter.”

It’s unbelievable that such a tiny rock has succeeded in creating such a temptation, but that’s what happens when you take something small and make it move very, very fast … and then it explodes.

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