Photo of the Observatory of Campinas shows meteor trajectory in the sky
© EPTVPhoto of the Observatory of Campinas shows meteor trajectory in the sky
Noise and tremor scare residents of Hortolândia and Sumaré on Thursday night

The Municipal Observatory of Campinas (SP) caught the passage of a meteor in the region on Thursday night (July 13th). The cameras captured the moment when a luminous ball appears in the sky. See the meteor's trajectory in the video above. Residents reported feeling the shaking walls and windows and a loud noise.

Astronomer Júlio Lobo explains that "When a meteor falls and explodes, it causes a sonic boom, which usually shakes the walls and windows. [...] When this happens, it produces a meteorite, which is the 'pebble' that will stay on the ground. So if anyone happened to see a falling meteor, communicate us because this is of great scientific importance".

According to the astronomer, the Campinas observatory currently has six cameras, and this is the largest number of cameras in a Brazilian observatory. Many other meteors were recorded on Thursday night.

"We recorded 88 meteors on the same night. There is a network that studies this officially," said the astronomer.


The astronomer confirmed to G1 that the cameras that made the record have special configuration and lens to enable the recording of meteors.

"The meteor passed at an altitude of 90 km, with a speed of 18 km/s, lasting for 6 seconds, which for a meteor is a long time, because they are usually seen for 0.5 seconds or at most 1.5 seconds", he points out.

There are still no reports that it has fallen into any city, he said. If it did not fall, it turned to dust and is in the high atmosphere. Lobo also explains that the risk to the population is 1 in 1 million.

Walls and windows shook

Residents of Sumaré and Hortolândia were alarmed by a noise followed by a tremor on Thursday night (13), around 11 pm.

"I felt the walls the window shake from the room. It was a strong vibration, as if it were a plane passing close to the house, or some machine passing in the street. I did not feel the rocking sensation, like an earthquake, but I felt the the wall and the window vibrating,"
says student Mariana Costa.

"I went out front to see when I heard the crash and the window of the house trembling,"
recalls student Lucas Quio Pinto.

However, the observatory does not confirm whether the meteor was the cause of the residents' perceptions of the event.

"The first thing we're looking at is the time of the occurrence. A lot of people are reporting that it happened between 10:15 p.m. and 10:40 p.m.. The time we officially recorded was precisely 22:30 p.m., that is, it does coincide," says Lobo.

According to an investigation by TV Globo affiliate EPTV, there were no reports of crimes followed by explosions, according to the Military Police and Municipal Guard. CPFL, the company responsible for the distribution of electric power in Campinas and other cities in the region, said there were also no substation explosions.