Large Meteor Over Europe On Videos Plus Green Comet and Mars

Monday, February 13, 2023

Two spectacular sky shows were captured recently that I want to share with you.  Locally here in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, astro photographer James Willinghan was able to take advantage of a clearing between weather events and witness the Green Comet passing within view of Mars.  The other sky show was an expected large meteor entering the Earth’s atmosphere over France that presented a large bolide display. The object tracked was larger than 3 feet/1 meter and was expected to safely enter the atmosphere. It was captured on multiple videos and lived up to expectations.

Green Comet and Mars

Recently I wrote about the newly discovered Comet E3 that made its closest approach by Earth on February 1.  

ORBITAL PATH

The track has been mathematically extrapolated to show C/2022 E3 has an orbit around our sun of around 50,000 years. That means it last passed by Earth during the interglacial Stone Age.

As it continues to move away form the sun, it has approached the pass by Mars.  James Willinghan captured this amazing view on Friday night.

PHOTO

Here is the Tweet he tagged me in. If you are on Twitter I recommend following him for more sky show events.

Was out Friday before the clouds came in to capture Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF as it passed by the planet Mars. If you look closely the Ion tail is just visible coming down at an angle at 7 o’clock. @JustinWeather pic.twitter.com/i40eC5a94B

— James Willinghan (@JamesWillinghan) February 13, 2023

Meteor Over Europe

Named Sar2667, it was forecast to enter the atmosphere over Rouen, France, and be visible in Belgium, the Netherlands, northern France, and southern England, according to the International Meteor Organization.

Mapping The Observed Reports

After collecting dozens of reports, The American Meteor Society plotted this path and observers with an arrival time of 0258 UT Monday February 13 2023. That is universal time, which correlates to 3:58 AM in France and 9:58 PM EST Sunday night here on the east coast of the US.

Bolide Explosion

A meteor that explodes in our atmosphere is called a bolide. This object was determined to be about 1 meter or over 3 feet in length. It was seen traversing the atmosphere with a light trail, and a large explosion.  As it streaks across the sky, it is more commonly referred to as a fireball. They are essentially the same thing: an object from space made of rock and or water that can burn up in our atmosphere.

Videos

I shared this first video on my Facebook page as seen on a web cam. There are additional vantage points included below.

Explosion Over The Water

This is an amazing light display related to the report from Southern England. Not much detail, but we can assume the water is the English Channel:

Event: 937-2023, Report (937bl-2023), England

From Rouen, Normandy, France

© Thomas Petit @MegaLuig

Through The Trees

This is low near the horizon and through the trees so harder to spot.

Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

© Sang-Hyeok Lee

More Details On This Event

To see the individual reports and any more uploaded media, visit the report page clicking here:

Event 937 for 2023

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