Last night two very bright meteors ("bolidi") crossed the Italian skies, the first shortly after midnight and the second around half past four in the morning. The first involved the skies of the North, the second Sardinia. Midnight, in particular, was filmed by 11 cameras of Prisma, the First Italian Network for the Systematic Surveillance of Meteors and Atmosphere, an initiative promoted by the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF).
The first calculations indicate that the bolide was spotted at 75 kilometers of altitude, while falling at 15.8 kilometers per second, and disappeared at 28 km of altitude, when the speed had been reduced by two-thirds due to friction with the atmosphere. Trajectory and speed are compatible with those of an asteroid, intercepted by Earth's gravity.
Now the search for any memories thatmay have reached the ground intact starts: according to Prisma's calculations, the area to keep an eye on is that of the municipalities of Sospiro, San Daniele Po and Pieve d'Olmi, south-east of Cremona.
The "Sardinian" meteor, on the other hand, crossed the atmosphere too quickly and became extinct at an altitude too high to have given rise to the fall of meteorites.