I'm not much of a diarist, but something happened today. Something happened that was rare enough that it is said to be experienced only once in a lifetime. I only partly experienced it though, and it will likely be as close as I ever get to personally witnessing the event of a Bolide entering the atmosphere somewhere overhead.
From EarthSky blog:
Dan Ruby of the Fleischmann Planetarium at the University of Nevada, Reno, is reported widely as having said that the reports indicate the boom and fireball were caused by a meteor. If it was a meteor, it apparently broke up above Earth somewhere over the Sierra Nevadas[sic]. Astronomers in that area commonly would mount a search for a possible object on the ground – which would be called a meteorite – but I’ve heard nothing specific about such a search in this case.
Astronomers use the word bolide to describe an exceptionally bright fireball such as this one. The term bolide – which comes the Greek word bolis, meaning a missile or to flash – is particularly applicable when the object is so bright it can be seen in broad daylight, when the object explodes in the atmosphere and when it creates audible sounds. In other words, all of these phenomena are known to occur, and astronomers even have a word for it.
Among astronomers, it’s sometimes said you might witness one bolide, or very bright fireball, in your lifetime. So if you saw this one, this was yours! You might want to tell someone what you saw
Morning on April 22 began for me as it always does, with a step outside to walk the dog. Every morning begins this way, and has begun this way for the last fifteen years or so, with one dog or another. Today was different.
This day, my dog was taking his sweet doggy time, interfering with my desire to return to the cup of coffee I had left inside. Then, out of nowhere, the sky cracked and the earth shook. I had no idea what had disrupted everything that I thought was normal. Was it a crashed jetliner, or an exploding gas plant, I had no idea what it could be. It was enough to startle me, I was suddenly fully awake.
Then just as quickly, everything about the day went back to normal. There was no smoke on the horizon. There were no sirens in the distance. Nothing remained except a few questions about what had happened.
So this once in a life event almost occurred this morning for me. I didn't see it happen, but it shook the ground I was standing on. I felt the concussion. I just didn't see it, but it was good enough for me.
Thanks to my slow-moving dog, I was outside to experience this rare terrestrial event.
Praise Dog!