A blue meteor lit up the skies over Europe last night as a piece of a comet burned up in the atmosphere.
Videos and images on social media show the bright blue flash of a fireball streaking across the skies over southern Spain and Portugal, heading toward the Atlantic Ocean.
People from as far north as Brittany in France and as far south as Andalusia in Spain have reported seeing the shooting star. Initial analyzes suggest that it comes from an icy comet, hence its surprising light blue color.
“It appears that this object was a small piece of comet,” the European Space Agency (ESA) wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“We estimate that it flew over Spain and Portugal at a speed of around 45 km/s (25 miles per second) before igniting over the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of around 60 km (37 miles). The probability of finding meteorites is very low.
Scientists had no indication that the rock fragment was heading toward Earth until it was seen illuminating the planet’s atmosphere above Spain around 10:45 p.m. local time.
Professor José Maria Madiedo, an astronomer at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, led the work from the ground to determine, using several fireball detection cameras, that the space rock had completed its journey over the ocean – and to ratify the assessment of the ESA planetary study. Defense Office that it was of cometary origin.
Which comet the piece came from and how big it was is uncertain – but it is possible that it came from Halley’s Comet and was part of the Eta Aquariids meteor shower.
However, this remains to be confirmed and the fireball was moving slower than an Aquariid event normally does. NASA says the Aquariids last from mid-April to late May and reach their peak in early May.
The meteor’s blue hue in the sky was likely caused by the interaction of icy cometary material with charged particles from the Sun, as well as Earth’s atmosphere.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving deals and more.
yahoo
