Watch a brilliant fireball blaze a 48-mile path over the Midwest US (video)

Residents of a number of Midwestern U.S. states have been handled to a dramatic pure gentle present within the early hours of Feb. 10, when a fireball meteor made a fiery descent, brightening the winter sky earlier than showing to disintegrate because it neared the horizon.

The meteor‘s fiery passage generated over 120 experiences on the American Meteor Society website from skywatchers in Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois, a few of whom captured its 48-mile (77 kilometer) journey on safety cameras, dashcams and within the footage of sensible doorbells.

The meteor was first noticed at 11:32 p.m. EST on Feb. 10 (0432 GMT on Feb. 11) because it streaked Earthward above the city of Trinity in Indiana whereas travelling at a blistering velocity of roughly 29,000 miles per hour (46,670 kilometers per hour). The fireball flared repeatedly earlier than lastly showing to interrupt aside 27 miles (43 km) above Dayton, Ohio, per a NASA report.

Meteors turn out to be seen when tiny shards of comets or asteroids referred to as meteoroids collide with Earth’s environment whereas travelling at tens of 1000’s of miles per hour, compressing the air of their paths and inflicting it to glow.