Stunning videos have captured a meteor lighting up the sky over Niagara Falls and the CN Tower in Toronto. The European Space Agency confirmed that the object “less than 1 metre”, named #C8FF042, turned into a ball of fire.
“A three-foot object smashed into the sky above Niagara Falls, becoming a harmless fireball,” the agency wrote on social media Saturday morning.
The sound of dynamite in the depths of the night
Citizens from various cities in southern Ontario, from Oakville to Hamilton, reported on social media that they were awakened by a loud bang. It exploded nearby, and the house shook for about 5 seconds,” one user wrote.
This is the sixth time that global warning systems have detected an asteroid before impact, according to the European Space Agency. The last time was in March, when a meteorite was discovered in Hungary just before it hit Earth near Greenland.
Good to knowMeteorites are parts of asteroids. Their variable size is much smaller than that of comets or asteroids. What distinguishes them is above all that they have been able to land on Earth, and through the atmosphere.
Between 40 and 100 tons of space material
It is estimated that between 40 and 100 tons of space material hits Earth each day, most of it in the form of very small particles. Larger bodies collide with it an average of ten times a year.
However, most of the asteroids that hit the Earth were discovered several years, even several million years after their impact, we read on the website of the European Space Agency. However, the ability to detect them is rapidly improving.
