Potential Belgian meteorite dropping fireball in Germany on May 7

On May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT (22h 49min CEST*), a bright , slow-moving and long-lasting fireball was observed by thousands of people from Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany, of whom more than 60 reported it to the IMO (Event #2294-2024, Figure 1) via the Online Fireball Report Form.

*CEST = Central European Summer Time

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Figure 1- Heat map of witnesses that reported their observation of the May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT fireball (Event #2294-2024). The blue arrow displays the path automatically calculated from those visual reports. Credit: IMO/AMS

A bright, slow-moving and long-lasting fireball

The meteoric event was also recorded by several cameras and videos stations, especially those from DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- unr Raumfahrt) and Fripon-Belgium (Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network) meteor network (Figure 2). Those recordings allows to define the fireball which was visible for nearly 10 seconds (Figure 3), and reached -7 magnitude (Figure 4), which is 16 times brighter than planet Venus (currently visible in the morning).

Figure 2- May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT fireball was recorded by 6 video stations of Fripon-Belgium network, especially from Grimbergen and Namur. Credit: Fripon-Belgium — Figure 2- May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT fireball was recorded by 6 video stations of Fripon-Belgium network, especially from Grimbergen (Flemish-Brabant) and Namur (Wallonia). Credit: Fripon-Belgium

Figure 3- Altitude of the meteoroid vs time after beginning of appearance calculated from Fripon-Belgium video recordings. Credit: Fripon-Belgium — Figure 3- Altitude of the meteoroid vs time after beginning of appearance calculated from Fripon-Belgium video recordings of the May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT fireball. Credit: Fripon-Belgium

Figure 4- Magnitude of of the fireball vs altitude of the meteoroid calculated from Fripon-Belgium video recordings. Credit: Fripon-Belgium — Figure 4- Magnitude of of the fireball vs altitude of the meteoroid calculated from Fripon-Belgium video recordings of the May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT fireball. Credit: Fripon-Belgium

A fireball flying over Belgium…

According to Fripon calculations, the meteor was associated to a meteoroid originating from the inner parts of the asteroid main belt (between Mars and Jupiter, Figure 5). It entered the Earth atmosphere with a 12.5 km/s (approximately 45 000 km/h, Figure 6) speed and a 25° inclination relative to the horizontal. Its luminous path started vertical to Antwerp (Flemish region, Belgium), while it was 75 km high in the atmosphere. It then travelled in an Eastward trajectory (azimuth = 090°), to disappear while it was at a 35 km altitude, just above the Belgium/Netherlands border (Figure 7).

Figure 5- Orbit of the meteoroid calculated from Fripon-Belgium video recordings of the May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT fireball. From this calculations, the interplanetary rock came from the inner parts of the main asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter). Red circles are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars orbits. Credit: Fripon-Belgium

Figure 6- Speed vs altitude of the meteoroid calculated from Fripon-Belgium video recordings of the May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT fireball. Credit: Fripon-Belgium

Figure 7- Atmospheric path of the meteoroid associated to May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT fireball. Credit: Fripon-Belgium — Figure 7- Atmospheric path of the meteoroid associated to May 7th, 2024, 20h 49min UT fireball. Credit: Fripon

…but potential meteorites landing in Germany!

The potential remaining mass of the meteoroid then keeps on moving on its dark flight trajectory, passing above the Netherlands, to finally land just after the Netherlands/german border, West of Düsseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia), in Germany! Without a good meteorological model, it seems the small potentially remaining meteorites (10 to 50 g) may have fallen in a West-East elongated area around the villages of Brüggen, Niederdrücken and Schwalmtal (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Figure 8).

Figure 8- Strewn field (red rectangle) where the potential 10 to 50g of meteorites may have landed. Be aware this calculations do not include the meteorological data, as those are not available. Credit: Fripon-Belgium — Figure 8- Strewn field (red rectangle) where the potential 10 to 50g of meteorites may have landed. Be aware this calculations do not include the meteorological data, as those are not available. Credit: Fripon

Seen the small mass of the potential meteorites, no organized meteorite hunt is being organized, but local inhabitants should be aware they may fall on tiny interplanetary rocks while they travel in this area of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany).

Fireball, Bolide?

Several thousand meteors of fireball magnitude occur in the Earth’s atmosphere each day. The vast majority of these, however, occur over the oceans and uninhabited regions, and a good many are masked by daylight. Those that occur at night also stand little chance of being detected due to the relatively low numbers of persons out to notice them.

Additionally, the brighter the fireball, the more rare is the event. As a general thumb rule, there are only about 1/3 as many fireballs present for each successively brighter magnitude class, following an exponential decrease. Experienced observers can expect to see only about one fireball of magnitude -6 (crescent moon) or better for every 200 hours of meteor observing, while a fireball of magnitude -4 (Venus) can be expected about once every 20 hours or so.