NASA Camera at Tellus Museum Captures Bright Fireball in Tennessee

From Tellus Science Museum

On Saturday Aug. 2 at 11:19 p.m. a bright fireball was detected on the NASA fireball camera installed at Tellus Science Museum.

The fireball appears to be about 57 miles above the area near Beechgrove, Tennessee. Meteor cameras tracked the object traveling at 47,000 miles per hour and then breaking up into fragments above the town of Gaylesville, Alabama, at an altitude of 18 miles.

The animation of the meteor’s orbit and its approach to Earth can be viewed here. A view of the fireball on a camera in Tullahoma, Alabama, can also be viewed here.

Fragments were traveling at a speed of 11,000 miles per hour. Fragments of up to 22 pounds may have dropped on a line from Lake Weiss to just east of Borden Springs, Alabama, right along the Georgia–Alabama state line. This object was about 15 inches across and weighed about 100 pounds. Anyone in this area who finds a rock that is heavier than expected, is without air pockets and is metallic (a magnet should attract to it) is encouraged to bring it by Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville for identification.

“This is an unusual event,” said Tellus Astronomer David Dundee. “In the three years we have been part of the fireball camera network, this is only the second time we have had the possibility of meteorite impacts,”

Tellus Science Museum operates one of 15 NASA fireball cameras of the across the southeast. Every clear night the Tellus camera records a half dozen to a few hundred bright meteors seen over Cartersville. By linking the cameras, astronomers can determine height, speed and the orbit of these objects. Plus the origin of these objects can be determined, usually from the asteroid belt.

For more information about Tellus Science Museum call 770-606-5700 or visit its website or Facebook page.