A timelapse image of the fireball event from start to finish. Image courtesy Western Meteor Group
A timelapse image of the fireball event from start to finish. Image courtesy Western Meteor Group - A cosmic drama unfolded over southern Ontario on the night of Friday, Nov. 18, triggering an international collaboration and a meteorite hunt. Just before midnight Eastern time, the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona detected a small object heading toward Earth. This small asteroid, now designated 2022 WJ1, was followed by many observatories around the world for the next three hours before it impacted over southern Ontario at 3:26am EST on Nov. The few hours of advance warning about the asteroid impact allowed for several members of the Western Meteor Physics Group and the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (Western Space) to move outside and find clear weather to watch the incoming object. David Clark, a geophysics doctoral candidate, drove to the predicted fall area in the early morning hours and managed to see the fireball with his own eyes, parked near Niagara-on-the-Lake at the intersection of Hwy 403 and Niagara Regional Road 55 (formerly Highway 55).
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