A meteor exploded into a ball of light last night in Santiago del Estero, Argentina during a concert at roughly 3:30 a.m. The result was moment of daylight, which reportedly could be seen for hundreds of miles, in the darkness of the night.
Experts in Argentina have estimated that the meteor was traveling at 130,000 km (81,000 miles) per hour and reportedly disintegrated when it was 65 km (40 miles) from the ground. According to Jorge Coghlan, director of the Astronomical Observatory of Santa Fe, the meteor had a diameter of about 20 centimeters and was caused by a space rock measuring 40 to 45 centimeters (1.5 feet).
'This object disintegrated and was high so it could be seen for hundreds of miles," said Coghlan to Australia's 9 News. "Meteors are smaller fragments. In this case, it was a larger object. We can calculate it was about 20cm in diameter."
The light caused by the meteor was seen by thousands across eight provinces in Argentina and viewers posted footage on Facebook and Twitter. Cameras in north and central Argentina also show the streets of Argentina lighting up as if it were daytime.
According to NASA, roughly 1,000 to 10,000 tons of meteoric material fall to earth each day and goes unnoticed because the fragments are too small.
See the video of Argentina's 2013 meteor shower below:
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