‘Unusually large’ meteor lights up night sky over Norway
Norwegians have been stunned by an “unusually large” meteor that lit up the night sky in southern Norway on Sunday.
Witnesses described powerful flashes of light followed by loud bangs as the meteor rumbled across the sky over the capital of Oslo, and the phenomena have been seen as far north as Trondheim as reported.
Norwegian police received a burst of emergency calls, but no injuries or damage were reported.
A meteor is a space rock that burns brightly after entering the earth’s atmosphere at high speed. If it survives to reach the ground, it will become so-called a meteorite.
The fireball on Sunday was visible for at least five seconds when it flew over the country at about 16.3km/s at 1am local time, according to the Norwegian Meteor Network.
The meteor could be observed over large parts of southern Scandinavia, the network added.
Analysis suggests the meteor could have weighed at least 10kg, and part of it may hit the ground in Finnmarka, about 60km west of Oslo. A team of experts has been sent to the area to search.