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Fragments Of 10-tonne Space Rock Located In Canada From Nov. 20 Fireball

Date:
December 2, 2008
Source:
University of Calgary
Summary:
The remains of a 10-tonne asteroid that exploded in the sky near the Alberta/Saskatchewan border on November 20, 2008 have been located in a rural area near the city of Lloydminster.
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FULL STORY

The remains of a 10-tonne asteroid that exploded in the sky near the Alberta/Saskatchewan border on November 20, 2008 have been located by University of Calgary researchers in a rural area near the city of Lloydminster.

Planetary scientist Dr. Alan Hildebrand and graduate student Ellen Milley located several fragments of meteorite late Thursday afternoon and are conducting a search of the area to collect some of the estimated thousands of meteorite fragments densely strewn over an estimated 20-square-kilometre area near the Battle River.

Background

The fireball first appeared approximately 80 kilometres above and just east of the border city of Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan, and traveled SSE towards the Battle River valley fragmenting spectacularly in a series of explosions. 

The fireball penetrated the atmosphere at a steep angle of approximately 60 degrees from the horizontal and lasted about five seconds from 17:26:40 to 17:26:45 MST with the largest explosion at 17:26:44.  The fireball was recorded on all-sky and security cameras scattered across Saskatchewan and Alberta in addition to being witnessed by tens of thousands of people who saw it streak across the sky, saw its arc- welding blue flash, or heard the subsequent explosions.

Dr. Peter Brown, Canada Research Chair in Meteor Physics at the University of Western Ontario said that a fireball this size only occurs over Canada once every five years on average.  About ten fireballs of this size occur somewhere over the Earth each year.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Calgary. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

University of Calgary. "Fragments Of 10-tonne Space Rock Located In Canada From Nov. 20 Fireball." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 December 2008. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081128082939.htm>.
University of Calgary. (2008, December 2). Fragments Of 10-tonne Space Rock Located In Canada From Nov. 20 Fireball. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 29, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081128082939.htm
University of Calgary. "Fragments Of 10-tonne Space Rock Located In Canada From Nov. 20 Fireball." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081128082939.htm (accessed March 29, 2024).

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