Mind-blowing footage of meteor over Toronto is way cooler than you might realize
A small but incredibly bright (and scientifically significant!) fireball dazzled people all over the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas early Saturday morning, streaking across the sky just before 3:30 a.m., only three hours after the meteor was initially detected by astronomers in Arizona.
Asteroid 2022 WJ1, initially titled C8FF042, collided with Earth's atmosphere on Nov. 19 at 3:27 a.m. over Lake Ontario, near Niagara Falls, according to the European Space Agency (ESA.)
While bright enough to illuminate living rooms all across the region and loud enough to startle many with its sonic boom, the meteor was eventually categorized as a safe "near-Earth asteroid" with a length of approximately one metre (three feet.)
Heard a big explosion last night and found this on our camera this morning! #meteor pic.twitter.com/ILtIQWSbp8
— Sarah Gorsline (@SarahGorsline) November 19, 2022
Scientists say that most of the space object wound up in Lake Ontario, though they admit that some chunks of meteorite could have made landfall just east of Hamilton, Ontario, in Grimbsy or McNab.
But what Toronto lacked in fragments, it more than made up for in striking footage of the fireball soaring past iconic landmarks, including the CN Tower.
~1-m space object - temporary designation #C8FF042 - strikes Earth over Canada, creating stunning #fireball☄️
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) November 19, 2022
For only the 6th time in history, this impact was predicted.
Find out more about predicting #asteroid impacts from the last time this happened 👉https://t.co/zwPKXeUEUl https://t.co/XbDqtiDuom pic.twitter.com/5yHGWibSki
This is far from the first time that people in Ontario have been treated to the spectacle of an incoming meteor, but 2022 WJ1 is more historically and scientifically significant than most.
"A 1m object has struck in the skies above Niagara Falls, becoming a safe fireball," announced the ESA around 5 a.m. on Saturday.
"For just the 6th time, global asteroid warning systems saw it pre impact, alerting Planetary Defence experts where and when. Only 6x, but this capability is rapidly improving."
I captured meteor #c8ff042 in Brantford,Ontario Canada at with my GoPro
— Dereck Bowen (@dereckbowen) November 19, 2022
It was capturing 30sec shots all night and got this shot pic.twitter.com/grTgtPQreU
Astrophotographer David Rankin was first to spot the asteroid while working with NASA's Catalina Sky Survey out of the Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tuscon, Arizona.
The sky survey exists to discover potentially-hazardous comets and asteroids that pose a threat of impacting Earth.
"I was working tonight and got very lucky. Picked up a small asteroid approaching Earth at 04:53 UTC while surveying at CSS. I could tell from the discovery images that the object was likely in near-Earth space and closing in," wrote Rankin on Facebook around 5:30 a.m., sharing video footage from Toronto's own CN Tower cam.
"At about 08:28 UTC the ~1m rock entered the atmosphere near Toronto. This footage was taken as the meteor passed by the CN Tower in Toronto this morning. It packed a punch when it hit, putting on a light show then sending sonic booms out that shook houses."
#Toronto #Oakville #Burlington #Hamilton #Brantford #meteor #Ontario 10:11pm EST. pic.twitter.com/HuiK7KhvGU
— Marijuana Stock Traders (@MSTraders_ca) November 20, 2022
Evidence of the asteroid's arrival in the Great Lakes region can be found all over the web today, sourced from a variety of webcams, dashcams, home security cameras and even professional telescopes.
I OBSERVED THE METEOROID THAT JUST EXPLODED OVER LAKE ERIE (#C8FF042) WITH THE LOWELL DISCOVERY TELESCOPE WOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/2lJmo4udH8
— Dr. Teddy Kareta (@teddykareta) November 19, 2022
Witnesses report bright flashes of green light and a loud sonic boom as the meteor entered our atmosphere and started to burn up.
My doorbell caught #C8FF042 entering the atmosphere head on. Really interesting to see from this angle. This was near Crown Point East in Hamilton, ON. pic.twitter.com/6sOO16TEXN
— Dave Dunville (@davedunville) November 19, 2022
The visual shebang lasted only seconds, but it was enough to startle and delight everyone who saw it and around the Toronto area.
The CN Tower west view camera on EarthCam caught the reflection of the bolide on the lake surface.https://t.co/eGq0pdDBeU
— Scott Sutherland, Science Writer (he/him) (@ScottWx_TWN) November 19, 2022
Use the Archives (the film icon bottom left controls), choose the 3-4 am, and go to 3:26:29. pic.twitter.com/vpciO8nQI0
The fact that this is only the sixth meteor ever detected in advance of impact is exciting for scientists, but even cooler is the fact that, according to the Minor Planet Centre, this was the smallest asteroid ever discovered while still in space.
Those looking to get their hands on a piece of history (that they will hopefully turn in to local scientific authorities immediately) can try their luck searching in the fields near Grimsby, Ontario.
Experts say that the rocks should have a fresh black fusion crust and be around 5 grams — the size of a nickel.
