Fireball As Bright as the Moon Captured on Camera by Western University Researchers

Researchers at Western University say that their automated meteor detection system captured a fireball as bright as the full moon in the early morning hours near Bancroft, Ontario.

The All-Sky Camera Network across southern Ontario and Quebec captured the fireball at 2:44 a.m. ET this morning.

According to the press release issued by the Western, their initial analysis indicates that “video data by Steven Ehlert at the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office suggests the recent meteorite fragments are likely to have fallen to the ground near Bancroft, Ont.” Should the public find any of these meteorites, the Western would like to see them.

Western University’s astronomy professor Peter Brown, a global leading specialist in the study of meteors said “this fireball likely dropped a small number of meteorites in the Bancroft area, specifically near the small town of Cardiff. We suspect meteorites made it to the ground because the fireball ended very low in the atmosphere just to the west of Bancroft and slowed down significantly. This is a good indicator that material survived.”

Further details.