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The Seattle Times·3 min read·medium

Explosive green and blue fireball seen over Pacific Northwest - The Seattle Times

K
Kai Uyehara
Explosive green and blue fireball seen over Pacific Northwest - The Seattle Times
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A large asteroid fragment, or bolide, created a bright fireball over the Pacific Northwest, causing shock waves and audible booms. NASA confirmed the object was not part of the Perseids meteor shower.

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It provides scientific insight into space debris and offers a rare, high-visibility astronomical event for the public.

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Karina Marquardt was sitting on her couch rewatching “The Good Place” when two bursts of light lit up the sky outside the window to the right of her television Friday morning.

The 41-year-old from northern Spokane County immediately worried it was lightning, which has spurred current and past wildfires , but the skies were clear. The first burst had been a bright yellow and white, while the second was blue and green.

Near 1 a.m., she took a look at the footage from a security camera affixed to her home and saw it: a fireball.

It was the same night the Perseids meteor shower was at the last day of its peak, where hundreds of meteors hailed from the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet. But NASA said the fireball was a piece of an asteroid that wasn’t part of the meteor shower .

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