A stunning shooting star, believed to be a comet fragment, was captured on camera streaking across the night sky over Extremadura and northern Portugal last night.

Extremadura, Spain - May 18, 2024

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A stunning shooting star, believed to be a comet fragment, was captured on camera streaking across the night sky over Extremadura and northern Portugal last night.

The celestial event, known as a bolide, was recorded by several astronomers and amateur photographers, including Miguel A. Furones, who captured the moment on camera from Navianos de Valverde. The bolide, which was seen transforming day into night and leaving a persistent trail behind it, was identified as a comet fragment in a relatively shallow trajectory.

"This was a remarkable sighting," said Josep Trigo, an astrophyicist from the Institute of Cosmos Sciences at the University of Barcelona. "The bolide was moving at an incredible speed of around 45 km/s and was visible from over 600 kilometers away."