Christmas star: Beautiful slow-moving meteor recorded over the Mediterranean Sea
Featured image: Slow-moving meteor over the Mediterranean Sea on December 23, 2017. Credit: SMART Project, METEOROIDES
A slow-moving meteor was observed and recorded falling over the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday, December 23, 2017. The event lasted about 14 seconds before the object disintegrated in a bright flash.
"This beautiful meteor, which resembles a Christmas star, was spotted over Spain at 21:07 UTC on December 23, 2017," said José María Madiedo, the principal investigator of the SMART Project framework.
The meteor flew over the Mediterranean Sea in front of Almería's coasts, southeastern Spain and was produced by a fragment from a comet that hit the atmosphere at about 43 000 km/h (26 700 mph).
Video courtesy SMART Project, METEOROIDES
"The slow-moving object began at an altitude of around 93 km (57.8 miles) over the Mediterranean Sea, and ended at about 60 km (37.3 miles) over the sea," Madiedo said.
Slow-moving meteor over the Mediterranean Sea on December 23, 2017 – trajectory. Credit: SMART Project
The meteor was recorded by the framework of the SMART Project (University of Huelva) from the astronomical observatories of Calar Alto (Almería), Sierra Nevada (Granada), La Sagra (Granada), La Hita (Toledo) and Sevilla.
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
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Why are you saying a meteor is a star? Does anyone read these comments?
Are you sure that was a meteor? I’ve never seen one move that slow. More like space junk.