Alaska On Wednesday morning, we were surprised by a strange astronomical phenomenon that crossed the sky. The incident was captured by surveillance cameras of various houses in the city anchorageThe largest city in this state, and was shared on social media.
one of the recordings went viral on twitterBecause it clearly shows a huge glowing ball falling from the sky and illuminated as it approaches the surface.
After the video was posted, users began questioning the origin of the spectacular event: “What a crazy way to start the day. It’s stupid cold and now there’s fire falling from the skyUser wrote.
The appearance of this giant fireball also coincided with the winter solstice. The longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere of the planet, In ancient times, this would have been a terrifying sign to observers.
however, it was a completely natural phenomenon,
What was it that lit up in Alaska on Wednesday night?
This spectacular event was responded to by American Meteor SocietyAs he explained it was a meteor passing through the celestial sky as part of the Ursids meteor shower, which is residual material that was part of Comet 8P/Tuttle and will not come close to Earth again until 2035.
Earth is currently passing through “dusty material thrown up by” Comet 8P/Tuttlewhich revolves around the Sun in a 13.6-year orbit,” explains Space.com, while Earth passes through this debris each year and produces the “Ursid meteor shower” upon contact.
For this year, ursids Visible in the Northern Hemisphere between December 13 and 24, with a peak on Thursday, December 22. The event looked much bigger and more spectacular because the Earth came closer than usual to the comet debris, allowing them to be seen closer and brighter.
Where was this rare meteorological phenomenon observed?
I saw this meteor south-central alaska Wednesday morning at 05:47.
According to residents, the ball of fire varied in color from blue to orange and white. anchorage and wasilla,
This phenomenon is known as the Ursids (sometimes spelled “Umids”) and is so named because it appears to radiate out from the bright orange star in the constellation Cochab. ursa minor, Because Kochab is located so close to the North Pole, the phenomenon is not available for all points in the Northern Hemisphere and is usually visible overnight if desired.