Residents across British Columbia's South Coast experienced a celestial event earlier this month, now confirmed to be a meteor. On March 3rd, a bright flash lit up the night sky, followed by a loud sonic boom that rattled homes and sparked social media frenzy. The event was widely reported across the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, with some reports even coming from Vancouver Island and as far south as Washington State.
Data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicates the meteor was roughly the size of a beach ball and traveled at approximately 98 times the speed of sound. According to NASA, the meteor became visible about 98 kilometers above Coquitlam, B. C., and was traveling slightly east of north at a speed of about 33 kilometers per second. The meteor traveled approximately 71 kilometers through the upper atmosphere before disintegrating at an altitude of 65 kilometers above Greenmantle Mountain, near Garibaldi Park.
Experts at the American Meteor Society (AMS) have classified the event as a "fireball," a term used for meteors that are larger and brighter than normal. While average meteors are about the size of a pea, a meteor the size of a softball can produce a flash as bright as the full moon. Alison Bird, a seismologist from Natural Resources Canada, confirmed that local seismometers picked up the event, further validating the meteor's impact.
The event serves as a reminder of the constant cosmic activity surrounding our planet. While most meteors are small and burn up unnoticed in the atmosphere, larger events like this B. C. fireball offer a spectacular and sometimes startling reminder of the vastness of space.
