The meteor of March 15 went out on Molise. INAF: "Possible fragments on the ground"

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17 March 2021 The brilliant racing car spotted on 15 March at 20.57 in much of the Center-South would have entered the atmosphere above Molise and then went out just west of Isernia.

These are the first estimates by the experts of the National Institute of Astrophysics thanks to the data collected by the PRISMA monitoring network.

The meteor was filmed from a camera located in the Aerospace Research Center of Capua and from another in the north-east of Caserta managed by the Arma Aeronautica Association in collaboration with the Sky Sentinel association.

The analysis of the images made it possible to make a preliminary reconstruction of the trajectory.

The fireball entered the atmosphere almost vertically, with an inclination of about 80 degrees with respect to the horizon and with an entry speed of about 50,000 km per hour.

It started burning 83 kilometers high and remained visible for just over five seconds.

He died at a height of 21.5 km, when he had braked to a speed of 3600 kilometers per hour.

It is not excluded that at this point the hunt for any fragments that have reached the ground without causing damage can be opened, as happened in the province of Modena after the fireball of 1 January 2020. "The final speed, the low altitude reached and the high inclination of entry into the atmosphere are all data that suggest that it is not unlikely that a meteorite will land on the ground - reports INAF - Prisma experts are working to calculate the area affected by a possible fall ”.