Spotted a meteor in Winnipeg? It’s likely not what you think
If you caught a glimpse of what looked like a meteor in Winnipeg skies over the last couple of days, it’s likely not what you think.
Photos have circulated across social media showing strange, cylindrical-like trails in the skies that look like meteors to some sky gazers.
Manitoba Museum Planetarium Astronomer Scott Young said he’s had several calls reporting meteor sightings that turned out to be nothing of the sort.
“I’ve had some calls where people say, ‘I saw this thing that looked like a meteor. I could see it for several minutes.’ None of them have turned out to be real meteors,” Young said.
CTV News submitted a photo of a similar sighting to Young for his analysis. He said in reality, the figure captured in the photo is likely a jet contrail – line-shaped clouds produced by aircraft exhaust fog or changes in air pressure. Young compares it to smoke that comes out of car tailpipes on a cold day.
“It looks very short because the weather conditions were such that the contrails were sort of fading away really quickly, so it didn’t like the typical one that stretches all the way across the sky. It was disappearing as the plane moved,” Young explained. “So it kind of looks like a meteor slowly moving across the sky.”
Young attributes the number of mistaken meteor sightings to the Orionid meteor shower currently happening over Manitoba. However, he says the full moon made it very difficult to spot.
“Basically, the moon right now is washing out the meteor shower, so this isn’t one that I recommend people go looking for,” he said, noting December’s Geminid meteor shower could present a better viewing opportunity.
Young said it can be tough to spot the difference between contrails and meteors, especially if the sun is lighting up the contrail from underneath. However, he said generally a meteor will glow and is not just a silhouette against a brighter sky, like a contrail. Meteors also move very quickly and are generally only visible to the human eye for a few seconds.
“A really long one might last five seconds, but anything longer than that is pretty much not a meteor,” he said.
Scott said in addition to jet contrails, folks have also mistaken the International Space Station for a meteor, which has been above Winnipeg in recent days.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Wildfire near Fort McMurray more than triples overnight, several evacuation alerts remain in place
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Putin replaces Russian defence minister in rare cabinet shakeup
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Suspect sought after fatal slashing in downtown Toronto
Police are searching for a suspect in a homicide investigation after a man was slashed in downtown Toronto on Sunday.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Edibles, armchairs and adapters: Here are the recalls for this week
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.