Rare duration meteor passage streaks Santa Catarina sky

The passage of a meteor over the sky of Santa Catarina was recorded by the monitoring station in the municipality of Monte Castelo on Saturday night (13). The phenomenon stands out for its duration: with about 12 seconds, the passage is considered rare.

According to astronomer Jocimar Justino, from the Brazilian Meteorological Observation Network (Bramon), the last occurrence comparable to this Saturday’s meteor occurred in 2019 in Rio Grande do Sul, when a similar path was recorded for 13.5 seconds.

He explains that the passing of meteors themselves are common phenomena, popularly known as “shooting stars”. On a daily basis, however, records do not usually exceed 5 seconds in duration.

“This year we recorded about 5 meteors from long passes like this one. This is very rare compared to the shorter ones, which are already over 5,400 in 2022”, explains the astronomer.

Furthermore, Justino observes that the time when the celestial body crossed the Santa Catarina sky favored the records. “It happened early, around 7:30 pm. It’s still a time with lots of people on the streets and we get a lot of records through social media. A lot of people testified”, he says.

Records now undergo in-depth imaging studies that analyze color and velocity for a greater understanding of the celestial body. Justino anticipates, however, that there is a strong possibility that the meteor has traveled a different path from that recorded in 2019.

“In the images, we noticed a blue-green color. This is not a characteristic of when the meteor hits the lower layers of the atmosphere”, he says.

In addition to Santa Catarina, the state in which the phenomenon occurred, the Observation Network states that there are also meteor viewing records in municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná.