A meteorite crossed the night sky of Attica today

A meteorite flew and disappeared early Sunday morning (February 18, 2024) in the atmosphere over Athens.

The Greek Weather Forecast Facebook page posted a video showing a meteor appearing in the sky of Attica and disappearing in the blink of an eye. As seen in the video footage, the meteorite illuminates the dark sky of Athens at 03:20 am. A meteorite is a small celestial body or its fragment that fell to Earth without completely disintegrating in the atmosphere. When it enters the atmosphere, called a meteor, it heats up due to friction and ignites, leaving behind a bright line of light.

Meteor (ancient Greek μετέωρος, “floating in the air”) is a phenomenon that occurs when meteoroid bodies (for example, fragments of comets, asteroids or debris) burn in the Earth’s atmosphere. Faint meteors are called shooting stars, while a similar phenomenon of high intensity (brighter than magnitude) is called a fireball.

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