NASA Meteor: Australia hit by a fireball meteor with the power of a nuclear bomb | Science | New



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The incredible meteor illuminated the night sky as it flew over the south coast of Australia on Tuesday, May 21st. According to NASA's Near-Earth Objects Research Center (CNEOS), the meteor entered the atmosphere at 11.5 km per second or 25 724 mph. The meteor then partially fragmented and crashed into the waters of Australian Bay Bay about 300 km west-southwest of Mount Gambier. Before that happened, however, the fireball released enough energy in the sky to match a "small nuclear bomb".

According to NASA, the meteor entered the atmosphere with a force of 1.6 kilotons or 1,600 tons of TNT.

Fortunately, Professor Phil Bland of Curtin University stated that the rock had exploded too high for the meteor to cause significant damage.

When a 20-meter-wide meteor exploded over the Chelyabinsk Oblast (Russia) in 2013, more than 1,000 people were injured by broken windows.

Professor Bland said, "It's in the radius of a small nuclear weapon. As he exploded at an altitude of 31.5 km, he made no damage.

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Shortly after the incident, eyewitnesses flooded social media with photos and video clips of the fireball.

Lyall Furphy tweeted: "I had a great view while driving to Adelaide."

Alexandra Marshall tweeted: "This meteor came to say," Hi! "And reminds all of us that he has much bigger brothers and sisters who are much less considerate with their landing options."

And Melanie Remen, who captured the meteor on video, tweeted, "Wow! One of our security cameras captured the Meteor in Adelaide Tuesday night, nasty!

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One video, in particular, shows a flash of light that transforms the night into a day at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia.

Based on NASA's tracking systems, the fireball broke out at 2:21 pm UK time or 11:21 pm South Australia time.

In the terrifying clip, a brilliant bright spot crosses the sky and gradually gains in intensity.

When the fireball bursts, a small dot of greenish-white light turns violently into a big ball of orange flame.

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Dr. Steve Chesley, NASA aerospace engineer, felt that the meteor could have been the size of a small car.

However, the force of penetrating the atmosphere at "hypersonic speeds" would have caused the collapse and collapse of the space rock.

The meteorite expert told ABC Radio: "You would not want it to fall on your head, but it would not do much damage to the ground.

"What people saw on the south coast of South Australia was a spectacular light show, probably a very loud sound that would make the windows vibrate, it was not big enough to break them, I suppose, and just small pebbles falling to Earth's ground and not to hypersonic speeds, they slow down very quickly. "

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