The Night Sky Guy

Meteor Flash Across South Ontario

Update Sept. 26, 10 am ET: Eyewitness from GTO caught the meteor flashes reflected off the ground on a videocam, “… shows a faint glow from that meteor in the Toronto area. The location is Laird and Eglinton in Toronto. Top right corner of the video is west left is towards the south.”

Reports are still coming in from all over the South Ontario region with many witnesses describing a loud rumble that shook homes associated with the flash of white and green light that lasted about 3 to 4 seconds. Click on this link to see the video:  Toronto videocam records meteor flash, Courtesy of Glen McKiernan, Toronto, Ontario

Update 11:30 pm ET: Just got two eyewitness reports from Ottawa region. One observer recounts, “From the size it was that we saw, we thought someone was setting off fireworks in the area.”

Reports are coming in from between Hamilton and Toronto area, that a spectacularly bright flash of light has streaked across the skies in a amtter of just 4 seconds, happening just after 9 pm Eastern time. One observer in Hamilton saw the sky light up as if by a lightening bolt. Some report hearing a thud or thunder-like sound associated with it. One Mississauga resident reports a firecracker sound associated with the streak of light.

These descriptions sound like the object was a meteor, probably the size of a basketball up to a sofa-sized rock from space that burned up in the atmosphere. Astronomers call these unusually bright flashes fireballs or bolides. Meteors can travel around 70 km per second and mostly get ionized in the upper atmosphere, but when they are this big they can fragment and pieces can make it to the ground. Stay tuned for more details to come. 

Did you see tonight’s event? Send me your observation at the comments section below and if you have any photos to share you can send them to andrew@thenightskyguy.com

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