This Sunday (3), a meteorite “fireball” Shine in some cities of the state of Colorado in the United States. According to the American Meteor Society (AMS), there are more than 40 reports of people observing the object in three states, most of them coming from the capital, Denver.

Fireballs are bits of larger meteorites that travel through Earth’s atmosphere at very high speeds and, due to friction, end up glowing a lot as they pass. Thousands of meteorites of this type occur daily, but most appear in desert areas or during the day and therefore cannot be seen – so the brighter the event, the rarer the event.

Check out some of the shots of the fireball involved:

Doug Robinson, a resident of one of the areas where the meteor was seen, was able to record the traffic on a surveillance camera in his home. He described “everything was dark, and out of nowhere it was as clear as a full and bright moon.” Another resident of the Evergreen area, also in Colorado, said the meteor was so bright that it charged the solar panels in his home.

Chris Peterson, a contributor to the Cloudbait Observatory, estimates that the meteorite broke between 16 km and 32 km above Earth’s surface, which is a relatively low altitude. “I think it was about a ton, which means it’s pretty big,” he told a local car. Peterson also explained that up to 95% of a meteorite will eventually disintegrate into dust and some debris may fall to Earth. “Whether or not something will be found, but there is a good chance that there are at least a few kilograms of material in the ground,” he said.

To date, there are no reports of the presence of meteorites in the areas where there were observations of the passage of the meteorite. However, scientists continue to follow the sites and ask that if someone finds something that is a candidate for a meteorite, they don’t touch it with their bare hands to prevent oils and microorganisms on the skin from damaging it. Stone.

Source: Space.comAnd CBS Denver