Q COSTA RICA NEWS – What was that over the Turrialba volcano? Many Tuesday night were asking for an explanation to a flash of light in the sky, crossing from one side of the frame to the other of the Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica (Ovsicori) camera pointed at the colossus.
Eric Sanchez, from the San José Planetarium of the University of Costa Rica, explained it as a meteor fireball disintegrating on impact with the atmosphere.
The event was recorded at 10:25pm, according to Ovsicori volcanologist, Javier Pacheco.
This type of phenomena can be sporadically seen, as with shooting stars. Fireballs form anytime space debris collides with the atmosphere. They often burn up after a few seconds.
According to Pacheco, this is the first time they have seen this type of event since installing the camera in 2011, located on the west of the volcano.
The sighting was also reported in Chiapas, Mexico and well in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
For Victor Fung, a member of the Costa Rican Astronomy Association, the meteorite might be small in size. “It has all the appearance of being a meteor of a size of a grain of dust. The shooting stars are pebbles the size of a grain of sand. As they move at high-speed and enter the atmosphere, they burn and we see the result,” commented the expert.
The experts estimate the meteor could have passed at a height of about 100 kilometres, which is the distance to the Earth’s atmosphere.
