(KTLA) – Cell phones and security cameras captured images of a bright meteor that passed through the night sky of Portugal and Spain on Saturday night.
The bright green fireball appeared at 6:46 pm local time, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). The agency called the object “impressive meteor” on social media platform X, later adding that it came from a comet.
NASA explains on your website that comets are “cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rocks and dust that orbit the Sun.” They can vary in width from a few kilometers to tens of kilometers. Meteors are smaller pieces of stones and ice ejected from comets, asteroids, the Moon or other planets.
Did you miss the Northern Lights? Planets will align in the sky this summer
Scientists estimate that the meteor recently spotted over Europe was traveling at about 160,000 kilometers per hour and likely burned up in the Atlantic Ocean, about 38 kilometers above Earth.
“Our Office of Planetary Defense is currently analyzing the size and trajectory of the object to assess the chance that some material reached the surface,” ESA posted onlater adding that it was unlikely that any fragments of the meteor would be found.
The comet fragment has since been named SPMN180524F. Social media users were amazed to see it, with some calling the object a “breathtaking” It is “Amazing”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
For breaking news, weather, sports and streaming video, visit Queen City News.
