Fireballs over Europe on Nov. 19 and 20

Two days in a row, and two bright fireballs crossed European skies on November 19 and 20, 2020. First one occured over central Europe at 03h 46min UT, and was reported by nearly 120 witnesses. Second one was even more widely reported, as more than 530 reports were received for this event that took place at the beginning of the night (17h 55min UT) over the Netherlands.

November 19th, 2020, 03h 46min UT fireball

The first of the two fireball was thus observed by hundreds of people living in central Europe, which is a good indication of the dramatic scale event, as it occured in the second part of the night, on 03h 46min UT on November 19. It was captured by numerous cameras of the AllSky7 network in Germany and Austria, and by other cameras located in those two countries and Czech Republic.

Several other witnesses captured it while filming or still-imaging the sky.

Another dramatic fireball video was captured from Prague (Czech Republic).

Videos and reports clearly shows the duality of the event, as two meteors appear at the same time with exact parallel trajectory! A dramatic show, as it was visible during nearly 20 seconds in the sky, reached the brightness of a Full Moon and was even heard by some witnesses. According to Meteor Laboratory, the atmospheric entry speed of the object seems to be close to ~13.5 km/s, with a ~15° angle with respect to the horizontal, which explains the slow and long fireball.
Trajectory analysis seems to indicate the meteor started being visible close to the border between Germany and Austria at a 130 km atltitude and then travelled South-East above Austria, to end its luminous flight at around 30 km elevation.

November 20th, 2020, 17h 55min UT fireball

This fireball, which happened in the evening sky (17h 55min UT on November 20th, 2020) for European people, was more widely reported, as more than 530 reports were issued from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Studies performed by the Werkgroep Meteoren indicate the meteorid entered the atmosphere slightly faster than the previous fireball (~20 km/s) and became luminous over Groningen region, while it was 85 km altitude. It then travelled West and slightly North to end its trajectory above North Sea at a 505 km elevation above the sea.