This Friday, February 1, 2019, between 01:20 and 01:30 pm, an astronomical event occurred, which was observed in almost all the municipalities of the province of Pinar del Río and in the seven meteorological stations of the territory. It was visible in the form of a ball of fire crossing the sky, followed by a condensation stele and a strong explosion.
According to the evaluation carried out, it was determined that this was caused by the fall of a meteorite in the municipality of Viñales. The site was investigated by specialists from the Institute of Geophysics and Astronomy, the Territorial Delegation of Citma, the Provincial Meteorological Center, the Center for Research and Environmental Services ECOVIDA and the Geophysics Office of Minem, with the support of government authorities and Minint.
The analysis carried out presumes that it may be of the opetreo lithium type, which contains iron, nickel and magnesium silicate. The meteorite disintegrated into numerous fragments of different sizes, spreading throughout the towns of Los Jazmines, Dos Hermanas, Palmarito, El Cuajaní and near the town of Viñales. The largest fragment was found in the Palmarito, with an approximate size of 11 centimeters in length, which caused a small crater or funnel in the ground. Samples were collected to perform subsequent chemical analysis to have more accuracy on the phenomenon.
At the same time, in the city of Matanzas, at 01:16 pm, some neighbors reported that an incandescent sphere with a diameter of approximately one meter was visible, falling into the sea very close to the southern coast of the bay, in the area where the seawall begins. Specialists from the Citma Territorial Delegation took a tour of the surrounding coastline and no footprints were found on land.
The institutions of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment will continue to study this natural event of scientific interest.
With information of ACN
Comments (0)