Meteor seen in skies over southeastern Brazil

2023-05-16 21:08:20

At dawn on Monday (15) a meteor passed through the skies of Brazil and can be seen in some places in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.

The meteor sighting was around 5:25 am and was recorded by live weather monitoring cameras and the Brazilian Meteor Monitoring Network (Bramon).

• In São Paulo, the event was observed in the cities of Araçoiaba da Serra, Osasco, Jundiaí, Taubaté, Morro Agudo and Guarujá;
• In Rio de Janeiro it was seen only in Angra dos Reis;
• And in Minas Gerais, the cities of Itajubá, Guaxupé, Pedro Leopoldo, Carmo da Mata, Lagoa da Prata, Divinópolis, Patos de Minas and Santo Antônio do Monte, recorded the passage of the meteor.

The event was recorded by Clima ao Vivo in several cities in the Southeast region.

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Meteors, rain and meteorites

Meteors are the entry of small space rocks into the Earth’s atmosphere, causing heating and ionization of the surrounding gas, generating a generally whitish luminous trail, and end up known as shooting stars.

However, it can assume colors in shades of green, red and even blue depending on the composition of the rock.

The occurrence of meteors can be an isolated event or associated with a shower. The showers usually happen because of comets that passed by the Earth and left small fragments in orbit. The shooting star seen in the southeast region is probably related to Eta Aquarids, which is active every year between April and May and is caused by remnants of Comet Halley.

These fragments are usually very small and burn completely when they enter the atmosphere, presenting no risk. However, depending on the size, composition and angle of entry, meteors can survive the process, and the remaining fragment is known as a meteorite.

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