Meteor fireball triggered loud boom across New England, NASA confirms
- Meteors travel faster than the speed of sound, creating pressure waves as they burn and break apart in the atmosphere
A meteor streaked across New England Saturday afternoon, causing a loud boom as it fragmented high in the atmosphere, confirmed by NASA and satellite imagery.
- NASA's confirmation of the meteor event.
- The meteor's fragmentation location and altitude.
- Energy released and the sonic boom's origin.
A bright fireball streaked across parts of New England in the US on Saturday afternoon, accompanied by a loud boom, after a meteor broke apart high in the atmosphere, NASA said citing satellite imagery.
The event occurred at about 2:06 p.m. EDT (1806 GMT) and was detected by eyewitnesses and NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite, NASA said in a post on X.
The meteor fragmented at an altitude of roughly 40 miles (64 km) over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire, the agency added.
NASA estimated the energy released at breakup was equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, accounting for the loud noise reported across the region.
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Meteors travel faster than the speed of sound, creating pressure waves as they burn and break apart in the atmosphere, which can produce a loud sonic boom that may be heard on the ground.