At dawn on Tuesday, some municipalities in the south of the country were surprised to see, for a few moments, the day turning into night from the intense glow of a meteor that crossed the sky, showing its effects for the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.
The bolide-type meteor (or superbolide, depending on the intensity), as this phenomenon is scientifically called, generated by the high-speed passage of space rock fragments through the atmosphere. With the high speed, the rock compresses and heats the air in front of it, creating a plasma bubble that gives the intense glow and, at the same time, vaporizes the rock little by little, causing only large fragments to survive the passage —the so-called meteorites.
The phenomenon was recorded by several security cameras, in addition to other institutional astronomy cameras, which are always alert to the heavens. There are records of the comet’s passage in Maringá, Medianeira, Foz do Iguaçu (in Paraná), Monte Castelo (Santa Catarina) and Vacaria, Venância Aires and Nova Petrópolis (in Rio Grande do Sul), all around 1am.
The spectacle was accompanied by a strong explosion noise following the meteor’s passage. On the networks, internet users were impressed with the moments in which it is possible to see how the luminosity hid the night for a few moments, surpassing the brightness of the full moon and giving way to a clear blue skywhich was reflected in the footage.
The Brazilian Meteor Observation Network, Bramon, is now working to identify the mass of the space rock and its trajectory through the atmosphere, as well as estimating the area through which its meteorites may have been scattered.
