Western University’s all-sky camera network captures large fireball near Lake Simcoe

A large fireball was spotted by all-sky cameras in southern Ontario on April 17, 2022, with meteorites landing near Lake Simcoe. (Source: Western University)

The region might currently be under a winter weather travel advisory, but late last night, there was a fireball that lit up the sky north of Toronto.

According to a press release from Western University, a large fireball was observed by all-sky cameras across southern Ontario at 11:37 p.m. on Sunday. Video analysis suggests that fragments of the meteor broke off and likely made it to ground near the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe, north of Argyle, Ont.

Western University’s physics and astronomy department runs all an all-sky camera network that constantly scans the sky for meteors — and they’re excited about this out-of-this-world event.

Denis Vida, an astronomy postdoctoral associate who specializes in the study of meteors, confirmed Monday that more than a dozen of Western’s Southern Ontario Meteor Network (SOMN) all-sky cameras captured the spectacular event.

“This fireball was particularly significant because it was moving slowly, was on an asteroidal orbit and ended very low in the atmosphere. These are all good indicators that material survived,” said Vida.

Vida believes that between the fireball producing light at an altitude of 29 kilometers and the steep angle at which the meteor entered the atmosphere, it suggests “many small meteorites” made it to the ground. It’s also believed that the fireball was first visible at an altitude of 90 kilometers.

The excitement surrounding meteorites has to do with their ability to unlock secrets of the solar system.

According to Western, this particular event is special because there is good-quality video of the meteor passing through the atmosphere, which allows researchers to calculate where in the solar system it originated.

Vida said that the initial mass of the meteor was approximately 10 kilograms, and that between tens and hundreds of grams of rocky material would have probably made it to ground.

“Meteorites are of great interest to researchers as studying them helps us to understand the formation and evolution of the solar system," said Vida.

Western adds that if anyone in the area thinks they may have heard something or found fragments of the meteor, they can contact the Royal Ontario Museum.