Fireball Explodes Over Yellowknife, Turning Sky “Blue” (PHOTO)

Yellow Knife, Northwest Territories – Residents in this remote city of just under 20,000 people were treated to the unusual sight of a fireball explosion across the sky. It was caused by a meteor exploding on impact with the earth’s atmosphere. The impact caused no damage to people or property, but it was large enough to illuminate the dark skies blue. A local tour guide who takes patrons to see the Aurora Borealis had his camera handy and was able to snap up a photograph of the sight.

Yuichi Takasaka took the picture from the verge of Vee Lake. “I was leading an Aurora Photography Tour,” says Takasaka. “We had quite colourful auroras all night. All of sudden at 02:13 local time, one shooting star started from Western sky and exploded towards North. It got so bright that I had to close my eyes like someone used electric flash in front of me. A few minutes later, we could hear the huge explosion from the direction of the fireball fell. What an exciting night!!!”

According to Peter Brown, physics professor from Western University in London, Ontario, the meteor was likely no more than a meter (3.3 ft.) in diameter. Based on the explosion it generated, he postulated that it likely reached well into the atmosphere. Yet, he believed it was unlikely to have had sufficient force to cause any damage. While it’s not an extremely rare occurrence, the general public will likely get only one chance to see such an explosion annually.

Dr. Brown stated that a similar event occurred over the skies of Montreal this past November, but that atmospheric explosion was much more forceful and actually rattled homes in the vicinity. However, the real enchilada occurred over the skies of Chelyabinsk, Russia last year when a meteor, which scientists believed weighed as much as 10 tons, splattered across the skies over the Ural Mountains. Its force was so great as to have been likened unto an atomic bomb explosion causing windows to shatter. It is estimated that 1,000 people were hurt from the blast.

—————————-
Source:
Fireball explodes over Yellowknife, turning night sky blue
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Fireball+explodes+over+Yellowknife+turning+night+blue/9588957/story.html