[MIham] Great Fireball over the Western USA

[Frank]

Space Weather News for Nov. 18, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

FIREBALLS AND METEORS:  As forecasters predicted, the Leonid meteor shower 
peaked during the late hours of Nov. 17th, favoring sky watchers in Asia 
with an outburst of 100+ meteors per hour.  Just as the outburst was dying 
down, an even bigger event took place over the western USA. Something hit 
Earth's atmosphere and exploded with an energy equivalent of 0.5 to 1 
kiloton of TNT.  Witnesses in Colorado, Utah, Idaho and elsewhere say the 
fireball "turned night into day" and "shook the ground" when it exploded 
just after midnight Mountain Standard Time. Researchers who are analyzing 
infrasound recordings of the blast say the fireball was not a Leonid.  It 
was probably a small asteroid, now scattered in fragments across the 
countryside.  Efforts are underway to measure the trajectory of the asteroid 
and guide meteorite recovery efforts.