An interesting event occurred in the night sky over Europe when a huge fireball exploded. On May 18, residents of Spain and Portugal were treated to a rare celestial display when a bright cosmic object entered Earth’s atmosphere around midnight.
This phenomenon, which scientists believe is a fragment of an unknown comet, swept across the sky at an astonishing speed of about 100,000 miles per hour.
The European Space Agency (ESA) reported that the fireball explosion, which occurred about 55 km above the Earth’s surface, produced a stunning blue-green light.
🇵🇹 | ULTIMA HORA
A meteorite lights up the night in Portugal. pic.twitter.com/osYYbzukyR
— UHN PLUS (@UHN_Plus) May 19, 2024
Thousands of people witnessed the event and the next day social media was flooded with videos capturing the incident.
Here’s another image of a meteor that lit up the Portuguese sky a few moments ago.pic.twitter.com/Mz87Soe2ib
— Travolax | Travel and destinations 🌍 (@travolax) May 19, 2024
Such fireballs typically occur when fragments of asteroids enter Earth’s atmosphere, heat up and explode due to friction. However, the object’s unusual orbit suggested it was a cometary fragment composed of ice and rock from the early Solar System.
These fragments often break off as comets approach the sun, leaving a trail of debris that occasionally crosses Earth, resulting in meteor showers.
The exact origins of Fireball are still under investigation. The ESA wants to identify the parent comet responsible for this spectacular event.
