Residents of five American states witnessed an unusual astronomical phenomenon. On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at approximately 4:05 a.m. local time, a spectacular fireball accompanied by a powerful sonic boom appeared over central Indiana. The event, which lasted only a few seconds, was observed by dozens of people and prompted a wave of reports to the American Meteor Society (AMS).
Witnesses from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin shared their observations of the unusual phenomenon. Each described it slightly differently, indicating the variety of visual effects that accompany a meteor's passage through the atmosphere. A resident of Big Rapids, Michigan, reported seeing a dark orange tail first, which then transformed into a bright orange, spherical shape.
A particularly spectacular account was given by an observer from Kokomo, Indiana, who described the phenomenon as "a huge, amazing, orange-colored fireball." A witness from Clay City, Indiana, described the event as an intense, blue-white light that literally flooded the sky, then flashed again as the object broke through the cloud cover.
One of the most striking aspects of the event was the accompanying sonic boom. This loud, explosive sound was created by the meteor exceeding the speed of sound as it passed through the atmosphere. It is a phenomenon well known to scientists - when a meteor travels at supersonic speeds, it compresses the air in front of it, creating shock waves that reach our ears as a powerful boom.
Experts explain that the presence of a sonic boom indicates that we were dealing with an exceptionally large meteor that managed to penetrate deep into the Earth's atmosphere. Such a phenomenon is relatively rare and usually accompanies the most spectacular fireballs, or very bright meteors.
Interestingly, this unusual phenomenon is most likely related to the Geminid meteor shower, which is active from November 19 to December 24. The Geminids are known for their bright, often spectacular meteors, and their peak activity occurs on December 13-14. During the maximum of the shower, with a cloudless sky, up to 120 meteors can be observed per hour, which translates to about one meteor per minute in ideal observing conditions.
This unusual fireball over Indiana reminds us of the dynamic nature of space and its constant interaction with our planet. Many meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere every day, but few create a spectacular show like the one on December 10. Events like this not only take the breath away from observers, but also provide valuable scientific data about small bodies in the solar system and their interactions with Earth's atmosphere.
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