Porto, Portugal

Porto, Portugal – Saturday, May 18, 2024,10:50 PM local time, A meteor was observed heading northwest at 40 km/s, and ending at a height of 74 km above the ground. This was likely a cometary event and it ended over water, so no meteorite recovery is possible.

News and Video

This fireball was large and visible over a large populated area, so it made international news.

StrewnLAB Maps & Data

A trajectory was sourced from CNEOS, and adjusted by Denis Vida of University of Western Ontario. A strewn field can be calculated, but it would be far off the coast in the ocean. Also, a preprint paper has been released by the team of ICE CSIC in Spain, by Peña Asensio, Josep M. Trigo et al., entitled The 18 May 2024 superbolide over the Iberian Peninsula: USG space sensors and ground-based independent observations, but this publication has not yet been reviewed by Strewnify.

Since the meteor ended in thinner atmosphere at around 60km, any potential fragments would have ended up more than 100km further northwest. Due to the high speed, it is likely any material burned up before reaching the ground.

Jim Goodall

The author and founder of Strewnify.com, an automotive controls engineer, with a passion for physics.
Hancock, Michigan, USA | james.a.goodall@gmail.com | +1 586 709 5888

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