The brilliant meteor that lit up and rocked the US Northwest with sonic booms on August 14th very likely resulted in a meteorite fall. Data from eyewitnesses, cameras, space-based sensors, and even weather radars confirm the meteor most likely dropped meteorites.
The fireball as seen from Airway Heights, WA.
A moderately sized space rock
NASA All Sky Fireball Network provides some preliminary data on the fireball. The brilliant meteor was picked up by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) on GOES East and GOES West NOAA weather satellites.
It was caused by a meteoroid (space rock) approximately 40 cm (16 inches) across.
It entered the Earth’s atmosphere at a super slow 14.6 km/s. This is at the lower end of entry velocities for meteorite-dropping fireballs (lower cutoff is at 11.2 km/s) and very favourable for survival of meteorites. The terminal height of the meteor was at 45.5 km, which is quite high for a possible meteorite fall, but falling meteorites were detected.
Meteorite fall, meteorites on the ground
The KOTX (Spokane, WA) radar in the NOAA NEXRAD national weather radar network likely detected the falling meteorites. The area where the meteorites likely fell (the strewn field) was determined by NASA Ares.
The strewn field is located along the WA 17 road, N of Sims Corner, WA. The size of radar returns indicates that the meteorites are likely small.
Meteorite strewn field near Sims Corner, WA. Determined by NASA Ares.
Fresh meteorites with known orbits prior to their fall are especially valuable to scientists. It is almost like a very low-cost sample return mission: instead of a probe going to the source asteroid and returning the sample, it delivers itself with its orbit being its home address. There are currently less than 100 meteorites with known orbits before their fall and each new one is very valuable. They contribute to our knowledge of the asteroid belt and the history of the Solar System.
More info at: https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/meteorite-falls/events/sims-corner-wa
