A meteor as bright as the moon flared over the night sky in Croatia earlier this week. In a blaze of fire, the meteor was entirely consumed upon entering Earth’s atmosphere.
According to the Croatian Astronomical Union, the meteor was traveling at 22 kilometres per second and had a magnitude, or astronomical brightness, of -7, nearly five times brighter than the brightest visible star in our night sky.
The meteor streak northwest of Zadar, Croatia on January 24, 2022. Photo: Croatian Astronomical Union
Sporadic meteors like this one are defined as those which cannot be traced back to any known collection of meteors. The trajectory of Monday’s skyfall suggests that the object originated near the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.
Croatian broadcast service HRT relayed high-resolution footage to the public, seen below.
