What appears to be a meteor brightened up the sky over Calgary early Wednesday morning, just before 6:30 a.m.
Fireballs aren’t uncommon and are defined by NASA as an unusually bright meteor seen over a large area.
Fireballs hit Earth daily, but about 70 per cent do so in uninhabited areas, so they go undetected.
Roughly half of the fireballs that fall over populated locales happen during the day and are dimmed by the sun’s light.
The timing and the location of Wednesday’s meteor make it a relatively rare occurrence.
Sky watchers may have several chances to see a fireball this month, with three meteor showers reaching their peak in November — although two have already passed.
The first, the Southern Taurids, reached a high point on the night of November 4-5, according to Weather Network science writer Scott Sutherland.
The Northern Taurids — the “twin” of the Southern Taurids — peaked on the night of the 11th to 12th.
Sutherland says astronomers are calling for a possible meteor outburst in the early hours of November 14, as Earth passes through debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which is the source of the Leonid meteor shower.
