Slovaks were surprised by an interesting phenomenon in the night sky: VIDEO It was not a flare or lightning – Topky

Fireworks, flares, or celestial bodies? So many Slovaks from western and central Slovakia, who saw an extremely clear phenomenon when looking at the night sky, probably asked these questions on Tuesday evening.

It was supposed to happen shortly after 6.30 pm and several shortly after the celestial theater wanted to find out what was going on. Therefore, on the social network on the Severe weather Slovakia website, where storm hunters share various interesting photos and videos, they started asking about the phenomenon. “Have you seen the falling period? Most near Bratislava, illuminated the whole area. Do you happen to have any photos?” one member of the group asked. Subsequently, other members began to join and it became clear that the falling object was not only visible near Bratislava, but also in other parts of Slovakia. What’s more, even abroad, around the Hungarian-Slovak border or in the Czech district of Vyškov near Brno. However, persists fall mainly in the summer, so the question arose as to what the phenomenon was.

According to the expert on celestial phenomena and a member of the Slovak Association of Astronomers Svetozár Stefeček, the explanation is relatively simple. It was not a flash or a flare, but a celestial object – specifically a meteor. And since it was extremely clear, such a phenomenon is called bolide. “It is formed by the passage of a fragment of interplanetary matter through our atmosphere. Often such fragments are grouped into meteor swarms, most of which were formed by fragmentation of comet nuclei near the Sun. neho, “ explained by Stefeček for Topky.sk. However, he added, whether it was a meteor from the aforementioned swarm has yet to be confirmed.

According to Štefeček, it is possible to see similar celestial theaters practically every night, while the intensity of meteors is higher the closer the Earth is to the meteor swarm. However, as he pointed out, bolide with such clarity is rare, but it occurs at least once every two weeks. “Most of such a body (we call it a meteoroid) usually literally burns in the atmosphere, but there is a chance that a certain part (or parts) will hit the Earth’s surface,” said Štefeček. The orbit of a meteor can be reconstructed if records are available from at least two locations, ie two different directions. In this way, it is also possible to determine the area where the fragments after the meteroid could have fallen. “The chances of such a fragment hitting someone as they fly through the atmosphere are really minimal,” pointed out the conclusion Štefeček.

Source: YT / AMS, SZA

Bolid recently appeared in the east of Slovakia – in the village of Chmiňany in the district of Prešov. The inhabitants of the village managed to catch the falling fire in early October during their trip to work.