Meteor seen across midwest early Monday morning

The things you see on Twitter! I took a peek before heading to bed, only to see that the National Weather Service of Chicago had tweeted a dashcam from an Illinois police car … showing a meteor falling from the sky. Timestamp: 01:25.

Check out this INCREDIBLE video of the #meteor this morning as viewed from a Lisle, IL police car dash cam! Thanks to Lisle PD for sharing! pic.twitter.com/uYELKkBxRO

— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) February 6, 2017

In case you’ve forgotten your science classes:

A meteor is a space rock—or meteoroid—that enters Earth’s atmosphere. As the space rock falls toward Earth, the resistance—or drag—of the air on the rock makes it extremely hot. What we see is a “shooting star.” That bright streak is not actually the rock, but rather the glowing hot air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere.

Meteorites are meteors that reach the Earth’s surface; they are rare.

So I started poking around. The meteor was seen in at least two states, Illinois and Wisconsin, and perhaps Iowa and Indiana.

Lots of reports of a meteor from Iowa across Wisconsin, Illinois into Indiana. Did you notice anything? Any get a picture or video of it?

— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) February 6, 2017

 

Chronology of meteor sighting, as posted on Twitter

Times are Pacific.

 

00:17, Wisconsin

Check out the roof of the car at the bottom of the video. You can see the tail of the meteor.#foxvalleywi pic.twitter.com/zHpXw23sU6

— Kyle Nachman (@knachman8) February 6, 2017

 

00:30, Wisconsin

228 am – Here's video of the meteor! Taken in Plover, Wisconsin #swiwx #wiwx pic.twitter.com/AQ6gh5Vk8p

— NWS Milwaukee (@NWSMilwaukee) February 6, 2017

 

00:51, Wisconsin

AWESOME video of early AM #meteor! This video is from Plover, WI. #swiwx #wiwx #mnwx #iawx #miwx pic.twitter.com/Z1sgxzWZ1u

— NWS Milwaukee (@NWSMilwaukee) February 6, 2017

 

00.55, Wisconsin

Video of Meteor near Milwaukee Wisconsin courtesy of Marcella Canfora. #wiwx #meteor #wisconsin pic.twitter.com/FJZm3V87Su

— Tom Purdy (@TomPurdyWI) February 6, 2017

 

1:13, Illinois

Here's another amazing dash cam video of the meteor this morning, this one courtesy of the @MGPD1895! pic.twitter.com/qH0rVNVJhY

— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) February 6, 2017

 

1:18, Wisconsin

Here is a video of the flash from the meteor seen flying over Wisconsin tonight. https://t.co/ejhsdgeqpD

— Jacob Graf (@jacobgraf) February 6, 2017

 

1:35, Wisconsin

Our @UWSSEC / @UW_AOS east camera recorded tonight's meteor streaking above @UWMadison. @NWSMKX #wiwx https://t.co/af94U5ZvmG

— John Lalande (@JohnLalande) February 6, 2017

Famous meteors

At least 16 witnesses captured the 1992 Peekskill, NY, meteor on video, “making it one of the best-documented meteor strikes in history.” Pretty sure that record just turned into dust.

The Ensisheim Meteorite (1492) landed near the town of Ensisheim in Alsace, France. It is the earliest meteorite “witnessed in the Western world” from which we have samples.

 
Credit:
Featured photo is montage from this tweet