The hunt is on for meteorites.
A fireball as bright as the full moon streaked across the sky in southern Ontario and Quebec around 2:44 a.m. on Wednesday. Video of the meteor was captured by a camera network operated by Western University's Physics and Astronomy Department in collaboration with NASA.
“This fireball likely dropped a small number of meteorites in the Bancroft area, specifically near the small town of Cardiff," said Western Astronomy Professor Peter Brown. "We suspect meteorites made it to the ground because the fireball ended very low in the atmosphere just to the west of Bancroft and slowed down significantly. This is a good indicator that material survived."
The "good-quality" video data of the meteor's passage through the atmosphere will help Western researchers pinpoint where the rock originated from within the solar system
So far, researchers have already determined the space debris was roughly 30 centimetres in diameter or the size of a beach ball. It was first spotted just south of Oshawa over Lake Ontario. It travelled over Clarington and passed just west of Peterborough before extinguishing just west of Bancroft.
It is likely to have dropped a number of meteorite fragments, of varying sizes, on the ground.
Brown and his colleagues from Western and the Royal Ontario Museum are now trying to connect with people from the Bancroft area who either found possible meteorites or heard anything unusual at the time of its appearance.
“Meteorites are of great interest to researchers as studying them helps us to understand the formation and evolution of the solar system,” said Brown.
Meteorites are dark coloured and often have a scalloped exterior. They are also denser than a normal rock and will often be attracted to magnets due to their metal content. While meteorites aren’t dangerous, they are fragile. Researchers suggest anyone who finds one put it in a clean plastic bag or wrap it in aluminium foil for protection and handle it as little as possible.
Anyone thinking of joining the search for the space-rocks is advised to get permission from landowners, as meteorites belong to the owner of the land upon which they are found in Canada.
Bancroft residents who locate suspicious rocks are asked to call Kim Tait of the Royal Ontario Museum at ktait@rom.on.ca.