Meteor becomes "bright blue shot" in Nordic night sky

William Atkins
Saturday, 24 January 2009 18:20

Science - Space

On January 17, 2009, early in the evening, a meteor shot across the Nordic sky and and brightened up the dark night sky for several seconds. It then exploded with a gigantic booming sound. Videos and images are provided by SpaceWeather.com.


As the fireball (another word for a very bright meteor) raced across the early evening sky, at around 1909 Universal Time (UT), 8:09 p.m. local time in Denmark, its frictional interaction with the Earth’s atmosphere turned the darkened sky a bright color of blue.

A meteor is defined as a rocky mass from outer space that burns up within the atmosphere after entering the sky above Earth.

On the other hand, a meteoroid is defined as a rocky mass still in outer space and outside of Earth’s atmosphere; and a meteorite is a rocky mass that has successfully impacted the Earth’s surface after racing through its atmosphere.

Swedish resident Roger Svensson, who just happened to have his video camera with him, took a video of the event. To watch the video, please go the SpaceWeather.com website “Scandinavian Fireball Sightings: Jan. 17, 2009.”

General aviation meteorologist Jacob Kuiper, with the Dutch National Weather Service, said in the article that his office telephones rang incessantly as people reported the incidence.

Kuiper reported, "The Dutch Coast Guard has been overwhelmed with eyewitness reports, sometimes 20 phone calls in a few minutes. People along the whole North Seacoast reported the sighting.”

He added, “It was a lucky shot that parts of the Netherlands were situated in a cloudless gap between 2 frontal systems … made at 1900 UTC, just 9 minutes before time of fireball's appearance." [SpaceWeather.com]

Page two provides comments from observers of the skyward event.