Bright fireball seen over eastern France
A brilliant meteor was spotted in the Eastern part of France at 04:48 UTC on October 13, 2019. The fireball was seen not only from France but also from parts of Germany, all over Luxembourg, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
The Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network (FRIPON) was able to detect the fireball in the night sky. The cameras in this network are placed around Europe to capture fireballs during night time.
Fireball over France on October 13, 2019 – heatmap. Credit: IMO
Image credit: FRIPON
12 FRIPON stations captured the meteor over Strasbourg, which passed over Lorraine and ended its flight in Germany. The trail was a little more than six seconds and had an initial speed of 27 km/s (17 mps) and a mass of 2 kg (4 lbs).
Image credit: FRIPON
The information captured by FRIPON would enable scientists to do orbit estimation, which places the meteor orbit's furthest point between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
The International Meteor Organization said they received reports about the meteor from 150 witnesses.
Featured image credit: FRIPON
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