North Georgians witnessed an impressive celestial site Sunday evening around dusk. An Earth grazer meteor – or fireball – streaked across the northern sky and then flamed out.
People reported seeing it in the skies above Banks County, Clarkesville, Cleveland, Ellijay, Dalton, Dawsonville, Gainesville, Lafayette, Milton, Rabun County, and Rocky Face in Whitfield County.
The American Meteor Society also reported sightings in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The bright flash appeared shortly before 7 p.m. and lasted just a few seconds.
“Earth grazer meteors around twilight hit the atmosphere at a shallower angle, so they tend to be much longer and brighter since they burn a little slower,” says Now Habersham weather forecaster and astronomer Tyler Penland.
The meteor may have been part of the Orionid meteor shower that peaked Sunday night.
The Orionid meteors come from Halley’s Comet, which is currently near the middle of its 76-year orbit around the sun. While the comet won’t make its appearance in Earth’s night sky until 2061, it leaves a trail of debris behind that our planet passes through every year, resulting in the Orionids, NASA explains.
Although the Orionids peaked this past weekend, you may still catch a view of these meteors now through Nov 22.
