64,000 mph asteroid was fastest on record
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The Sutter's Mill bolide caught from near Reno, Nevada (Photo: Lisa Warren)
Map showing the location of the explosion of the Sutter's Mill meteorite and (blue triangles) the locations of the infrasound monitoring stations that detected the explosion (Photo: NASA and Google Earth)
Fragments recovered from the Sutter's Mill meteorite fall (Photo: NASA)
Orbit of Sutter's Mill asteroid, showing its 3:1 orbital relationship with Jupiter (Image: Brian Dodson)
Article Summary
On April 22 this year, a daytime fireball was seen throughout the western United States, accompanied by a loud booming sound heard over much of California's Sierra Nevada mountains around Lake Tahoe. Scientists have now carried out a thorough analysis of the meteorite and found that it was the fastest meteor ever recorded at 28.6 km/s (64,000 mph).
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