New Year’s Eve fireball seen in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico

 

NASA scientists who calculated an orbit – using data from the cameras of NASA’s All-Sky Fireball Network, recorded in multiple locations – suggest that the fireball probably originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. They say it was a random meteoroid, not associated with the Quadrantid meteor shower which will occur the morning of January 4, 2012.
These scientists say the meteoroid struck Earth’s atmosphere at 26 km/s (58,000 mph) – a relatively slow speed compared to other meteoroids – and disintegrated 82 km (51 miles) above Earth’s surface.