A brilliant meteor piercing the skies of Puerto Rico
No fewer than three meteors were recorded on Saturday night, culminating in a beautiful fireball around 10:47 PM.
The Astronomy Society of the Caribbean (SAC) indicated that the bright meteorite was visible from the entire island in an northeast direction. Some observers reported that it displayed an amazing and colorful wakefulness, while others saw a sound.
A beautiful meteor was seen on Saturday night 16, around 10:47 PM. It was visible from all over the island, heading northeast, according to the Caribbean Astronomy Association (SAC) pic.twitter.com/kiD3gRV2sJ
– SocAstronomíaCaribe (Soc_AstroCaribe) January 17, 2021
“The detail that the sound produces is very exciting, because we know that light travels faster than sound, but on several occasions a sound in sync with a meteor has been recorded. It’s known as an electric meteorite,” said Eddie Erizary, vice president of SAC.
He pointed out that it is a slight sound, explaining that some meteorites sometimes emit very low radio frequencies, causing vibrations in the objects on the surface of the earth, which our ears consider a sound similar to a frying pan or a glow, while others compare it to the sound of “Christmas stars”.
SAC highlighted that on Monday the 11th, another bright meteorite was seen from the island, and indicated that the bright meteor seen last night also came from the constellation Cancer.
“This means it is associated with Delta Cancrids, which produces very few bright meteors,” the educational entity said.
The trajectory of the fragments that cause the Cancred delta is somewhat similar to that of the asteroid 2001 YB5, so it is not excluded that there are remnants released by this space rock.
The organization expects that this “spray” of meteorites will cause a few to be seen until January 24, especially around January 17.