Everyone was talking about it this weekend, a large meteor exploding over the Houston area and sending pieces of space rock toward the ground.<\/p>\n
It happened Saturday, March 21, at 4:39 p.m. Central Time when the meteor slammed into Earth\u2019s atmosphere. It first became visible about 49 miles above Stagecoach, Texas, northwest of Houston. Traveling roughly 35,000 miles per hour, the space rock streaked southeast across the sky.<\/p>\n
As it plunged deeper into the atmosphere, the intense heat and pressure caused it to break apart about 29 miles above Bammel, just west of Cypress. Scientists estimate the meteor was about three feet in diameter and weighed roughly a ton before it encountered Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n
The explosion released energy equivalent to about 26 tons of dynamite, creating a pressure wave that produced a sonic boom heard by some people across the area.<\/p>\n
Doppler weather radar even picked up debris falling to the ground, with meteorites likely landing somewhere between Willowbrook and Northgate Crossing.<\/p>\n
Reports collected by the American Meteor Society show the fireball was seen across a wide stretch of Texas from as far north as Dallas to as far south as Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n
Reports were as far north as Dallas and as far south and Corpus Christi<\/p>\n
Before going any further, it\u2019s helpful to understand exactly what happened Saturday. The graphic below shows some of the key meteor terms.<\/p>\n
Most of us are familiar with meteor showers, the quick streaks of light we see in the night sky. Those are caused by tiny bits of space rock, often no bigger than a pebble, burning up as they slam into Earth\u2019s atmosphere. If you\u2019d like to learn more about meteor showers, you can click here to read what I wrote about last year\u2019s Geminids.<\/a><\/p>\n Several people have described Saturday\u2019s event as a fireball, but that\u2019s not accurate. A fireball is a very bright streak of light in the sky that is seen but not heard, and its fragments usually burn up before reaching the ground. In fact, there was a fireball spotted over Houston on Friday, March 20<\/a>, two days before this event. Fireballs are actually fairly common.<\/p>\n What we experienced on Saturday was different. It was a bolide, a meteor that explodes as it enters Earth\u2019s atmosphere. One of the most famous examples is the Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia.<\/a><\/p>\n Bolides are rare: <\/p>\n On average, about 15 of these exploding meteors occur around the world each year.<\/p>\n That leads to the final definition: if part of a meteor survives its fiery trip through the atmosphere and reaches the ground, it\u2019s called a meteorite. In recorded history, the Houston area has never had meteorites confirmed to reach the ground here.<\/p>\n To give you an idea of how uncommon that is, the return period for a meteorite striking any single square mile of Earth is roughly once every 20,000 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n Courtesy: American Meteor Society<\/p>\n Click below to see the story of Sherrie James. One of Saturday\u2019s meteorites crashed through her roof. <\/p>\n How much is a meteorite worth?<\/p>\n James says she plans to sell her meteorite, but the first step will be figuring out exactly what kind of space rock she has. Meteorites come in several different types, and their value can vary widely depending on their composition and origin.<\/p>\n I won\u2019t dive too deep into the pricing here because the range is huge. Some common meteorites may sell for around $1 per gram, while rare ones, especially those confirmed to have come from the Moon or Mars, can fetch well over $1,000 per gram. If you\u2019re curious about the different types and what determines their value, here is a site that explains the process in detail.<\/a><\/p>\n More space rocks on the ground?<\/p>\n It\u2019s actually quite possible that more meteorites are sitting on the ground somewhere in the Houston area. The challenge is finding them. Most are quite small, and unless one lands on something noticeable, like a roof, driveway, or car, they can easily blend in with their surroundings.<\/p>\n If you happen to spot a rock that looks unusual, it\u2019s worth picking it up. Meteorites are denser and heavier than typical Earth rocks, so they can feel surprisingly heavy for their size. The area I\u2019ve outlined on the map is where you have the best chance of finding one.<\/p>\n If there are pieces on the ground this is where you’ll find them (KPRC 2)As seen from the weather office:<\/p>\n What\u2019s really fascinating is that our weather tools actually captured the moment the bolide exploded over Houston.<\/p>\n The GOES East satellite picked up the flash using its lightning mapper, which is normally designed to detect lightning within storms. In this case, it briefly registered the bright burst of light produced when the meteor broke apart high in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n Our Houston weather radar imagery also helps show the different sizes of the debris as it fell. On the radar display, the brighter colors represent the larger fragments of the meteorite that were headed toward the ground.<\/p>\n The radar image is a better indicator of where the meteorites may be (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n