The night sky over Sochi in southern Russia was lit up by a spectacular meteor cutting through the heavens on Friday, which astronomers say is part of the annual Geminid shower.
“In Sochi, we’re told that the meteorite observed in Armavir fell,” Alexander Ivanov, of the Astrophysical Observatory of the Kuban State University, told TASS, adding that the facility’s cameras only partially managed to capture its flight.
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“What our cameras caught was a fairly bright meteor, measuring around 10-15 centimeters, which burned in the atmosphere, leaving a very bright trace.”
Ivanov said that the object most likely came from the Geminid shower, which can be seen from December 4-17. It peaks around December 13-15.
“The asteroid Phaethon, which comes opposite to the Earth in December, is believed to be the ancestor of the Geminids stream. The meteor shower has been known since the 19th century.
This year it has been especially active, and a lot of meteors have entered the atmosphere.”
