Massive meteor explodes in the sky over Norway

Source photo: Ronny Tertnes.

A huge meteor exploded and lit the sky over Bergen, Norway, on December 6th, 2016.

Around the clock 5:15 Tuesday morning came a large meteor entering the atmosphere west of  Shetland, with a speed of 20 kilometers per second, according to the nrk.no website. Those who were out at this time could see a bright light in the sky and then a shooting star.

''I heard about the meteor when I woke up this morning. When I ran out to check my camera. And there was the meteor, right in the picture! It is almost inconceivable to have so luck,'' says Ronny Tertnes.

Tertnes has a camera standing on the terrace of Valle in Bergen, which stands ready to catch whatever might happen in the night sky. If something happens, the camera takes it up.

''I've got some good pictures with this camera, but this is the toughest I've got, no doubt,'' he says.

The meteor that came through the atmosphere west of Shetland. The spent probably 12 to 15 seconds through the atmosphere before it fell down about 200 kilometers from the coast.

''What happens is that the stone collides with the air as it enters the atmosphere. The speed is so great that the air in front is that a concrete wall. When it explodes, and the strong light is because it is released energy, and that the stone is brutally heated,'' says astrophysicist Tor Einar Aslesen, who heads the Norwegian Astronomical Society.

The meteor explodes probably around 30-35 km altitude and broke in several parts. Aslesen says it is likely that some of the meteor has fallen down to earth, because it was so big.

''It was the stronger that the full moon, so it may have been around a tonne before it entered the atmosphere. And maybe it was a few kilos when it came right down, but unfortunately fell enough down in the North Sea.''