By: Jasmine Williams
According to reports, on Wednesday, February 15, a meteor smashed into pieces in McAllen, Texas, as confirmed by NASA. Some of the other pieces had landed near Mexico’s border.
This meteor, known by others as an unknown object, weighs as much as a grand piano. That’s quite a meteor. This meteor was estimated to weigh about 1,000 pounds before breaking up.
The weather radar was used to help determine how the meteor entered the atmosphere by angle and speed, which was 27,000 miles per hour, stated by the NASA Meteor Watch. This helped NASA verify that the mysterious object was a meteorite. According to ‘CBS NEWS’, in three days, three different meteorites landed in Texas, France and Italy.
The meteorite had the power of around 8 loads of TNT, but no damage was caused, NASA said. The meteor made a mark in the sky and the Earth shook when it supposedly landed. There were photos and videos taken, shown on Twitter, and filmed on home security videos of the meteorite.
Most of the time, meteorites break into fragments heading towards the Earth. The meteorite that hit south Texas broke at a distance of 21 miles. The pieces, in diameter, were about two feet, as estimated by NASA.
Meteorites are called “shooting stars” or “fireballs” because of the way they appear in the sky. Any space rocks that are 82 feet, or smaller, tend to burn up before hitting the ground. Those rocks won’t cause destruction to the earth. Animated meteorites you would see online or in videos look like fireballs. Which is actually true, but some people might think it’s fake because of all the other animated versions of things. Like carrots in Looney Tunes, they look appetizing, but in real life that isn’t the case.
Fun fact: 100 tons of dust, and more, are estimated to arrive to the earth from space every day. A meteor the size of a football field hits the Earth almost every 2,000 years, causing major damage.
For more information, please visit:
Plaid Line 