Spectacular meteor seen shooting across central Trinidad

A local man from central Trinidad caught footage of a meteor flashing across the night sky over Trinidad on October 15, 2019.

According to Trinidad and Tobago Weather Center, the meteor was spotted sometime between 23:00 and midnight UTC (19:00 – 20:00 LT). The meteor entered the atmosphere under clear skies. Most of the reports came from central and northern Trinidad.

Most meteoroids that enter the atmosphere burn up completely as meteors. In some cases, however, the meteoroid does not completely burn up, and the object actually makes it to Earth’s surface.

The chunk that has survived its fiery journey is called a meteorite. A small body starts its life as a meteoroid floating through space between the planets until it makes a bright streak of light in Earth’s atmosphere as a meteor and then, if it isn’t consumed by frictional heating, finally lands on the ground as a meteorite.