Meteorite Explosion over Alberta and Saskatchewan
Late one November night, a sound like a sonic boom shook the earth as the sky lit up in a dazzling flare. Then people heard a sizzling sound like frying bacon as a bright object zoomed through the black sky before breaking up into hundreds of tiny pieces in the sky. Hundreds of chunks of rock showered the earth far and wide. A meteorite had exploded into Earth's atmosphere, causing great awe and excitement as people had a chance to witness the power of rocks from space.
Meteorite Explosion
People living near the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan had that nerve-racking but exciting experience on the night of November 20th, 2008, when a large meteorite entered the earth’s atmosphere and broke up, lighting up the sky with brilliant blue, green, red, and white trails. Thousands of people saw the meteor disintegrate, and now many of them will be looking for the debris, hoping to find some of the space rock, and possibly even to receive a reward.
A meteor hitting the earth is nothing new, but each incident is exciting. Meteorites hit the earth regularly, about 7000 per year worldwide, as the Montreal Planetarium reports, but of these, only about 100 land in Canada. Most of the pieces are never found, although occasionally a farmer will find one in a field or a hiker will discover a strange-looking rock while out walking.
Meteors are formed when bits of asteroids break off and hurtle out of their orbit, often crashing to the earth. Their size varies considerably; some are as large as houses, while others are only a fraction of the size. When they enter Earth’s atmosphere, the air pressure breaks them apart into pieces as big as a soccer ball or as small as a fingertip. The pieces look like smooth black concrete, and they can be dispersed far from where the original break-up took place.
Searching for Pieces of Space Rock
Pinpointing a starting place to search for the scattered rocks is difficult, but scientists working for and organization called Prairie Meteorite Search believe they can narrow down the area where the meteorite likely landed. The lights that brightened the sky were strongest and the sonic boom that shook houses and roused people out of their sleep was loudest in the area around Lloydminster, a town spanning both Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The meteorite was likely still many kilometers above the earth at the time, but the pieces that came apart in the explosion probably landed within about 100 kilometers of the break-up. Scientists believe that most of the pieces may have landed in Saskatchewan, likely around the area of Manitou Lake and the town of Maklin.
Collecting Rocks
Even if the general search area is correct, the task of finding the rocks could be challenging, especially considering how small they could be. According to reporters at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, American rock collector named Robert Haag, however, has high hopes of getting one from the comfort of his home in Arizona.
The meteorite collector has offered a reward of $10,000 to anyone who can find a one-kilogram (2.2-pound) chunk of the rock for him. Reporters Keith Gerein and Luke Simcoe of the Calgary Herald reported that by November 28th, a professor and a student from the University of Calgary had already found several small pieces on a frozen lake near the Saskatchwan side of Lloydminster, arousing hope for other people searching for fragments. For them, this is the chance of a lifetime.
Meteorites fall to earth often, but the amazing sights of November 20th will continue to thrill the people of Alberta and Saskatchewan for a long time to come. Those who manage to find a bit of space rock will have something tangible to remember the night the sky lit up.
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