ESA’s Fireball Camera in Cáceres, Spain captured this stunning meteor on Saturday evening, May 18, 2024 Credit: ESA/PDO/AMS82 – AllSky7 Fireball Network
A meteor that lit up the sky over Spain and Portugal was captured by the Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite and a ground-based camera in Spain. This event demonstrated the capabilities of the new Lightning Imager, which is designed for advanced atmospheric observation, particularly of lightning phenomena.
On May 18, the meteor burned up in the night sky over Spain and Portugal – not only impressing those lucky enough to see it with their own eyes, but it was also captured by the fireball camera in Cáceres, Spain, operated by ESA’s Planetary Protection office.
And as it zoomed across the sky at over 160,000 km (100,000 miles) per hour, it was also captured by the Lightning Imager on the Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite, which was hovering at 36,000 km (22,000 miles) in geostationary orbit. offering another perspective on this remarkable event.
As its name suggests, the Lightning Imager will be used to detect lightning once it is fully operational following the satellite’s launch in late 2022.
ESA’s Fireball Camera in Cáceres, Spain captured this stunning meteor on the night of 18/19 May 2024 (00:46 CEST 19 May / 22:46 UTC May 18). Credit: ESA/PDO/AMS82 – AllSky7 Fireball Network
Advanced lightning detection technology
The Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite is the first geostationary weather satellite to have the ability to detect lightning in Europe, Africa and surrounding waters. It continuously monitors more than 80% of the Earth’s disk for lightning discharges occurring between clouds or between clouds and the ground.
The instrument has four cameras covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East and parts of South America. Each camera can capture up to 1,000 images per second and will continuously monitor lightning activity from space.
Improved weather forecasting
Data from the Lightning Imager will give forecasters more confidence in their forecasts of severe storms, especially in remote regions and over oceans where lightning detection capabilities are limited.
Although it was designed to observe lightning, it also captured the lightning from the meteor burning over Spain and Portugal.
And zipping across the sky at over 100,000 miles per hour, it was also captured by the Lightning Imager on the Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite far away in geostationary orbit, offering another perspective on this remarkable event.
While a meteor lit up the skies over Spain and Portugal recently, it was also captured by Meteosat’s third-generation Imager weather satellite, orbiting at 35,000 km in geostationary orbit. Using preliminary data from the Lightning Imager, the animation here shows flashes of light accumulated over six seconds as the meteor moves across the instrument’s field of view. Credit: ESA/EUMETSAT
As its name suggests, the Lightning Imager will be used to detect lightning once it is fully operational following the satellite’s launch in late 2022.
The Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite is the first geostationary weather satellite to have the ability to detect lightning in Europe, Africa and surrounding waters. It continuously monitors more than 80% of the Earth’s disk for lightning discharges occurring between clouds or between clouds and the ground.
The instrument has four cameras covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East and parts of South America. Each camera can capture up to 1,000 images per second and will continuously monitor lightning activity from space.
Data from the Lightning Imager will give forecasters more confidence in their forecasts of severe storms, especially in remote regions and over oceans where lightning detection capabilities are limited.
Although it was designed to observe lightning, it also captured the lightning from the meteor burning over Spain and Portugal.
Using preliminary data from the Lightning Imager, the animation above shows flashes of light accumulated over six seconds as the meteor moves across the instrument’s field of view.
Joint Satellite Mission
The third-generation Meteosat mission is a collaboration between Eumetsat and ESA. ESA is responsible for the development and delivery of six satellites. Eumetsat defines the system requirements, develops the ground systems, provides the launch services, manages the satellites and provides the data to users.
The third-generation Meteosat satellites are built by a large consortium of European industries led by Thales Alenia Space in collaboration with OHB. The innovative Lightning Imager was developed by Leonardo in Italy.
