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A meteor near Lansing could be seen illuminating the sky throughout much of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, and even some nearby states, over the weekend.
The meteor seen Saturday night was classified a major fireball event by the American Meteor Society because more than 30 people reported seeing it.
Sightings in Michigan have been reported from Bay City to Detroit, and even nearby states like Wisconsin, Indiana and Kentucky could see the meteor.
Weather camera videos show the fireball flying through the sky in Howell, Dundee and Six Lakes. The online group Michigan Storm Chasers say they triangulated the meteor’s breakup zone to be centered around Lansing, because weather cameras in southern Michigan show the meteor to the north, while weather cameras north of I-96 show it overhead or slightly south.
While meteors start to disintegrate while traveling through the atmosphere, bigger objects can have enough left to hit the Earth and leave behind debris known as meteorites, according to Abrams Planetarium Director Shannon Schmoll.
She said researchers and space enthusiasts alike may be interested in looking for meteorites.
“Especially if it’s one that is larger and we do see that big boom and there’s a fragmentation happening, people will want to go out and look for that,” Schmoll said.
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Schmoll said the planetarium can help verify whether a rock someone finds is a meteorite.
“Oftentimes, it’s not,” Schmoll said. “There are a lot of rocks that look weird, but they are Earth rocks. But we would look for some signs that it was a rock that came from space.”
She said meteorites generally belong to the person whose property they’re found on.
After events like the fireball sightings, Schmoll said the planetarium sees a surge in interest.
“Any time you’re outside and you’re looking up and marveling at the wonders of our universe and you want to learn more about that, that’s what’s going to bring people in,” Schmoll said. “You can always learn more here, but the goal is always to get people outside, looking up at the real sky at the end of that visit.”
