Sonic boom and fireball: asteroid heard and seen in southern Ontario

If you heard a loud noise in southern Ontario a little before 3:30 a.m. Saturday - you likely heard the sonic boom" of an asteroid entering earth's atmosphere.

The Minor Planet Center (MPC) said a fast-moving object, designated 2022 WJ1, was spotted at the Mt. Lemmon Survey, which is at an observatory in the Catalina Mountains in Arizona.

The observations triggered a warning of an imminent impact. Seven observatories were able to observe the sub-meter object before it impacted the earth's atmosphere on Nov. 19 at approximately 08:27 UTC (3:27 a.m. eastern standard time) over Brantford, Ontario, Canada."

Photos and videos posted on social media show the light of the fireball reflected off car windows in Hamilton and zooming past the CN Tower in Toronto.

People on social media posted comments about hearing the boom in Niagara, Hamilton, Oakville and other places.

The European Space Agency said on Twitter asteroid #C8FF042 struck the skies and became a safe fireball that was seen zooming across the night sky.

According to the ESA this is only the sixth time the global asteroid warning system picked up the asteroid pre-impact, alerting planetary defence experts when and when impact would occur.

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