Event: 20180817-051837


At 12:19 AM Central Daylight Time, numerous eyewitnesses in the Southeast reported seeing a very bright fireball, which was also detected by all six NASA meteor cameras in the region. Analysis of the data indicates that the meteor was first seen at an altitude of 58 miles above Turkeytown, Alabama (northeast of Gadsden), moving west of north at 53,700 miles per hour. It fragmented some 18 miles above the small town of Grove Oak. Early results indicate the fireball, which was at least 40 times as bright as the full moon, was caused by a small asteroid 6 feet (2 meters) in diameter.


NASA Images and Videos


Desert Fireball Network Camera

Camera hardware courtesy of the Desert Fireball Network


Meteoroid Orbit


Event Data

Event ID 20180817-051837
Date (UTC) Aug. 17, 2018
Time (UTC) 05:18:37
AMS Event 3089-2018
Magnitude -18.0
Size 6 feet
Origin Asteroidal
NASA Camera Start Lat/Lon +34.042, -85.883
NASA Camera End Lat/Lon +34.475, -86.113
NASA Camera Altitude 94.8 km → 27.1 km ( 58.9 miles→ 16.8 miles)
NASA Camera Speed 22.3 km/s (49,900 mph)
Chicken Little Start Lat/Lon +34.229, -85.763
Chicken Little End Lat/Lon +34.638, -86.057
Chicken Little Altitude 68.5 km → 42.2 km ( 42.6 miles→ 26.2 miles)
Chicken Little Speed 16.6 km/s (37,100 mph)