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VIDEO: YouTube Mashup of Meteor Fireball Crashing Into Russia

It's just like in the movies, only for real.

What has been described as a "meteor explosion" over Russia Feb. 15, that injured more than 500 people and damaged hundreds of buildings, was not due to an asteroid fly-by, a NASA expert says.

Don Yeomans, head of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office, told space.com the fiery object shooting across the sky that exploded over a thinly populated area of eastern Europe Friday was most likely an exploding fireball known as a bolide.

Thanks to the proliferation of dashboard cameras in Russia, there are hundreds of video angles popping up online of this astronomical event.

Find out what's happening in Nashuawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

You can read more here at space.com, and watch a  YouTube video mashup of the bolide in Russia, uploaded with this story.

Closer to home, the New Hampshire Astronomical Society is available to field your questions on this and other things that go "zoom" in the sky. You can connect Saturday Feb. 16 with NHAS members during one of their regular sidewalk astronomy nights out in downtown Portsmouth, weather permitting. Ted Blank will be coordinating.  You can get more information via their contact page, here.

Find out what's happening in Nashuawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Question: Does this reinforce your fear of being hit by a meteor – (or a bolide?)


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