2024 Portugal and Spain Comet
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Overview
The 2024 Portugal and Spain Comet refers to a bright comet fragment that lit up the skies over parts of Spain and Portugal in May 2024. The spectacle of the meteor streaking across the sky causing a bright blue or green light was recorded on cameras from multiple vantage points, including the viral video of a girl who recorded her reaction while the comet passed by the sky. The astronomical event also spawned discourse, memes and other content on social media over the following days.
Background
On the night of May 18th, 2024, A comet fragment lit up the skies over parts of Spain and Portugal according to the European Space Agency (ESA).[1] Reuters[2] explained the fragment, which initially was believed to be a meteor, flew over Spain and Portugal at a "speed of 45 km (28 miles) per second before burning up over the Atlantic" (seen below).
The comment fragment fireball sparked a bright blue light across the skies of Portugal and Spain, which was captured by dozens of cameras in the area, including the dashboard camera shared by @TheInsiderPaper[3] (seen below), amassing over 1.4 million views and 10,000 likes in two days.
JUST IN – Meteor flashes across night sky over Portugal pic.twitter.com/agjSG6fKiA
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) May 18, 2024
Online Reactions
Immediately after the comet fragment flew over Portugal and Spain, several videos were uploaded on social media, including the video Instagram user @milarefacho[4] posted on May 19th, 2024, who captured her reaction while the comet passed over her (seen below), amassing 71,000 likes in a day.
The comet fragment also inspired jokes and memes about people trying to explain what they witnessed. For instance, on May 19th, 2024, TikTok[5] user @claudiovedderferreira posted a video captioned "Portuguese having breakfast trying to explain what happened last night." The post (shown below, left) received roughly 2,600 plays and 100 likes in a day.
On the same day, TikTok[6] user @ninjaverde8000 posted @milarefacho's video paired with the overlay text "This is how you know I pulled up to the function." The post (shown below, right) garnered roughly 195 plays and 13 likes in a day.
@claudiovedderferreira ☄️ #meteorito #🇵🇹 #fyp #foryou #Meme ♬ original sound – Squarebod_gang2.0
@ninjaverde8000 #meteor #fy #godzilla #function #meme ♬ Saturno Azul V2 (Slowed) – Dj brutos 77
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External References
[1] CNN – Stunning comet lights up night sky
[2] Reuters – Comet fragment lights up sky over Spain and Portugal 'like a movie'
[3] X – TheInsiderPaper
[4] Instagram – milarefacho
[5] TikTok – claudiovedderferreira
[6] TikTok – ninjaverde8000
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