<\/p>\n Reports from the European Fireball Network later confirmed that the streaking light was a fireball meteor that resulted from an asteroid exploding over Belarus shortly after entering Earth’s atmosphere, Hor\u00e1lek told Live Science. It is currently unclear how large the space rock was, how fast it was traveling or how long it shone in the sky.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n “What are the odds,” Hor\u00e1lek wrote in an Instagram post<\/a>. By combining his photos with Kujal’s, Hor\u00e1lek created a time-lapse image to “show the whole lucky moment,” he added.<\/p>\n The photo is even more incredible considering that this was the “last chance to capture the comet from mid-Europe,” due to adverse weather conditions the following nights, Hor\u00e1lek wrote on his personal website<\/a>. If the incident had occurred just 15 minutes later, light from the rising sun likely would have obscured the comet’s tail, he added.<\/p>\n \n Hor\u00e1lek and Kujal were photographing the long tail of Comet PanSTARRS before the fireball made a surprise appearance. (Image credit: Petr Hor\u00e1lek)<\/p>\n A similarly unlikely photo was captured last October, when the tail of Comet Lemmon<\/a> appeared to be entwined with a smoke trail<\/a> left by a “shooting star.” However, in this case, the photographer was able to intentionally align the comet with the smoke trail, which lingered in the air after the meteor burned up, making the newest photo arguably more impressive.<\/p>\n The Great Comet of 2026?<\/p>\n Comet PanSTARRS is a long-period comet, meaning it likely takes more than 200 years to orbit the sun<\/a>. It probably originates from the Oort cloud, a giant reservoir of comets and other icy objects near the edge of the solar system<\/a>.<\/p>\n The comet passed its closest point to the sun, or perihelion, Sunday (April 19). It was clearly visible with a decent telescope<\/a> or pair of stargazing binoculars<\/a> beginning April 13. However, it has now largely disappeared from view.<\/p>\n \n Comet PanSTARRS reached perihelion on April 19 and reached a minimum distance of around 0.5 astronomical units (half the Earth-sun distance) from our home star. (Image credit: Dimitrios Katevainis via Wikimedia)<\/p>\n The comet was first spotted in September 2025, and some experts later suggested that it could become the most easily visible comet of 2026<\/a>. So far, this prediction has held true, especially after its main competitor \u2014 the sungrazer comet C\/2026 A1 (MAPS) \u2014 ripped apart during its superclose approach to the sun<\/a> earlier this month, before it got a chance to shine properly.<\/p>\n However, there is always a chance that a previously unknown comet could emerge to steal the show, much like the interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS<\/a>, which was discovered last July <\/a>and went on to become one of the biggest space news stories<\/a> of the year.<\/p>\n What to read next<\/p>\n “Fireball season”<\/p>\n Fireball meteors occur when falling space rocks suddenly split apart due to strain on their surfaces caused by friction with the atmosphere. This releases energy in the form of bright light<\/a>, which can shine in many potential colors depending on the meteor’s chemical composition.<\/p>\n \n A bright green fireball was also spotted shooting across the sky above Lindisfarne Castle in northeast England on April 13. (Image credit: Ian Sproat\/@mje_photography_ne<\/a>)<\/p>\n Fireballs are most likely between February and April, also known as “fireball season,” when the number of exploding space rocks can rise by between 10% and 30% compared with the rest of the year, according to NASA<\/a>. This is likely due to Earth’s position relative to the sun and the rest of the solar system<\/a>. However, experts are still not entirely sure why.<\/p>\n This fireball season has been particularly eventful, especially March, when there were at least 10 major fireballs visible in the U.S. \u2014 the highest total for that month since 2012, according to AccuWeather.com<\/a>. This included a cannonball-size meteor crashing through the roof of a house<\/a> in Texas and a rare daytime explosion that triggered a powerful sonic boom<\/a> over Ohio.<\/p>\n A bright fireball also exploded over Europe last month and showered a German town with meteorites, one of which also punched a football-size hole<\/a> through the roof of a house. And just last week, on April 13, a bright-green fireball exploded over the North Sea and was spectacularly snapped streaking above Lindisfarne Castle<\/a> in northeast England.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JVsQmfKyspFVXr5D23SZFb.jpg\")
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