Have you already heard? The news about the visit of an alleged meteorite to Mexico City has quickly gone viral for surprising us all with incredible images and a loud bang. We will tell you what is known so far.
There is no doubt that this astronomical event caught us by surprise. Different security cameras captured the passage of this luminous object during the early morning of April 16.
The association Sismo Alerta Mexicana assures that the roar and what can be seen in cameras is a fireball.
Likewise, Dr. Guadalupe Cordero-Tercero, researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the UNAM, confirmed that it was a bolide, and explained that these phenomena are not as rare as it is thought. However, what is unusual is that they can be captured as this one did, which surprised us all.
What is a fireball and what is the difference between meteor and meteor? The key difference lies in the speed, the color of the light it gives off and the fall on the surface.
- Bolides: These are rocks that have been moving in the interplanetary medium since the birth of the Solar System.
- Meteorites: These are rocks detached from the collision between asteroids that enter the atmosphere and impact the Earth’s surface.
- Meteor: Rocks that enter the atmosphere but disintegrate without impacting the Earth’s surface.
What is known so far about the alleged meteorite that visited Mexico City
According to the association Sismo Alerta Mexicana what visited the Valley of Mexico during 3:47 am this Wednesday was a bolide that exploded 20-40 kilometers above the ground, causing an acoustic wave.
The trajectory it followed was from south to north of the national territory and was also perceptible in Puebla, Morelos, the State of Mexico and Hidalgo.
We continue investigating…