Tonight, the Norwegian meteor network has received many messages from people in southern Norway who have seen a powerful meteor in the sky.
– This was an unusually powerful meteor to be from the swarm Tauridene, Steinar Midtskogen in the meteor network tells Dagbladet.
Taurids are a swarm of Earth that crosses every year at this time, with subsequent meteors as a result. The swarm looks from our point of view to come from the constellation Taurus, hence the name; in late summer many are familiar with the swarm Leonidene, which comes from Leo and gives many shooting stars in the sky.
UNUSUALLY POWERFUL: Tonight’s meteor was unusually powerful to come from the swarm of Taurids. Here seen from an observation post in Larvik at 19.47. Photo: Norwegian meteor network
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– It came from the east, and seems to have gone to sea west of Western Norway. It has burned up approx. 50 kilometers up in the atmosphere, and light very strong, says Midtskogen.
The meteor was captured by a number of observation posts. The space rock was probably no bigger than a fist – ie a few kilos – but compensates for that by having a speed estimated at around 27 km / s, the meteor enthusiast explains.
– Remember that twice as fast gives four times as much kinetic energy, he says.
Midtskogen emphasizes that there was never a danger to people or animals.
It was VG who mentioned tonight’s meteor first.
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