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‘Fireball’ spotted as possible meteor lands in northern Norway

A strong flash of light which may have been caused by a small meteor was seen over Norway’s northern Finnmark county on Thursday night.

Published: 17 November 2017 12:35 CET
'Fireball' spotted as possible meteor lands in northern Norway
An unrelated file photo showing the Northern Lights over the town of Karasjok in Finnmark county. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB scanpix

After several people reported the incident to police, experts have said that they believe the object may have been a fireball, reports newspaper VG.

“We received around 30 telephone reports within a few minutes. [The callers] said they saw a white light in the sky. People think it was close to them, but the calls came from [relatively distant locations, ed.] Vadsø, Alta and Kautokeino,” police operation leader Jan-Olav Schjølberg of Finnmark Police District told VG.

The flash lasted for between three or four seconds, according to a witness report given to local media iFinnmark.

“It was crazy. At first it looked like a normal shooting star. Then there lights in all different colours,” Stian Mathisen, a resident of the town of Lakselv, told the media.

“It lasted probably three to four seconds. I thought about taking a picture, but I was too fascinated,” he added.

The phenomenon was also sighted over Finland, from where a reported video of the incident was posted on YouTube by Johannes Karhula.

Finnmark Police also issued a request via Twitter for famous astrophysicist Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard to contact them.

“He knows a little more about things that fall from the skies than us,” Schjølberg told VG.

Ødegaard told newspaper Dagbladet that the sighting was no cause for concern.

“It was probably a fireball,” Ødegaard and wife Anne Mette Sannes, who run astronomy site Astroevents, said.

Morten Bilet of the Norsk Meteornettverk (Norwegian Meteor Network) organisation said he believed the sighting was of a meteorite.

“There’s no doubt it is a large stone – a meteorite heading towards the mountain. They shine so brightly that they are called fireballs, and it explodes several times on its way down,” Bilet told VG.

Bilet added that it may be possible to measure the object’s size, speed and where in space it came from once more information is known.

The object may have come from the Leonids meteor shower, according to iFinnmark’s report.

Sightings of the object were reported at around 5:40pm on Thursday. Finnmark Police received no reports of any accidents related to the incident.

READ ALSO: Meteor showers on way to Norway skies

NORTHERN LIGHTS

Why the northern lights might be visible in more of Norway than usual

Current atmospheric conditions mean there's a good chance the aurora borealis will be visible across much more of Norway than normal on Friday.

Published: 19 March 2021 11:26 CET
Updated: 19 March 2021 16:54 CET
Why the northern lights might be visible in more of Norway than usual
Photo by stein egil liland from Pexels

Normally, the northern lights are only visible in northern Norway, typically between April and September.

According to the Geophysical Institute of Alaska the KP index, which is a system of measuring aurora strength, will reach Kp 5 out of a possible 9.

Anything Kp 5 and above is classed as a geomagnetic storm. This means you will be able to see the green lady a lot further south than you usually would.

The reason for this high forecast is “corona holes” (no relation to the pandemic). These are holes in the Sun’s atmosphere, where solar wind is thrown out at high speeds.

The northern lights occur when the protons and electrons from solar wind hit the particles in the Earths atmosphere and release energy.  

“You can see it down towards eastern Norway as an arc on the horizon, while in central Norway and in Trøndelag it will be right over your head.” Pål Brekke, head of space research at the Norwegian Space Center, told newspaper VG.

READ MORE:Taking pictures of the Northern Lights: 10 expert photography tips 

While there will be strong northern lights activity over large parts of the country, it does not necessarily mean that everyone will get to see it.

“It doesn’t look too promising in Nordland and Troms”, state meteorologist, Sjur Wergerland told VG.

However, he also added that the forecast looks much better further south.

Even then though there is no guarantee you will see the northern lights, according to Brekke.

“It is not certain that the northern lights will move as far south as we think, but I recommend people to follow forecasts on websites to stay up to date,” he said.

In order to see the northern lights, the weather will also have to be on your side. Clear skies are best and going to areas with no or low light pollution is important too.

If you are lucky enough to see the lights make sure you don’t wave at them. Doing so will cause the lights to lift you up and take you away according to Norwegian folklore.

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