Bright, slow-moving fireball recorded over Iceland

bright-slow-moving-fireball-recorded-over-iceland

A bright, slow-moving fireball meteor was observed and recorded over Iceland at 22:48 UTC on September 12, 2017. The event lasted for about 10 seconds.

Iceland's leading astronomy website, Stjörnufræðivefurinn, said that the phenomenon was a meteor and that people had seen it all across Iceland. In the North, in Reykjavik, and in South Iceland. 

According to Stjörnufræðivefurinn, the object entered our atmosphere at a speed of about 20 km/s (12 mi/s), which is near the lower limit of the velocity for meteors, and disintegrated at a height of about 20 – 30 km (12.3 – 18.6 miles).

They estimated the size of the object to be far less than football and probably less than a tennis ball. "It's a rough guess," they said, adding that this was far from the most beautiful meteor which has been seen from Iceland, but it is most likely one with the largest number of witnesses.

Featured image: Bright fireball over Iceland on September 12, 2017. Credit: Elvar Atli Smárason

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