VIDEO: A meteor lights up the sky over the Canary Islands

Yesterday evening, the skies over the Canary Islands were lit up by a meteor crossing over parts of the archipelago, which was caught on video by people in Fuerteventura.

It was spotted at 7pm last night, just as the sun was setting, and was visible for relatively long time taking into account how fast they travel. On average, meteors speed through the atmosphere at approximately 30,000 mph and reach temperatures of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,648 degrees Celsius).

They originate in the upper atmosphere of the Earth at altitudes of 50 to 85 miles, and are produced by the entry of a meteoroid into the earth’s atmosphere at high speed. However, most meteors are very small, some as tiny as a grain of sand, so they disintegrate in the air.