Latest news with #fireball
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Watch a brilliant 'fireball' meteor explode over China on May 28 (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Residents of Maoming, China were treated to a celestial light show earlier this week when a surprise fireball burst to life overhead, illuminating the city before disappearing in an intense flare of light. The fireball burned up over the southern Chinese province of Guangdong at 9:33 p.m. local time on May 28, according to multiple dashcam videos that have circulated online in the wake of the event. The videos show the meteor make a dramatic 5-second journey through the night sky, during which it changed color from a pale green-blue hue to an intense burst of orange-yellow light. This particular fireball may have been a bolide - a special meteor that breaks apart with a dramatic flash of light. A fireball is the name given when a relatively large meteor - over 1 millimeter in diameter - collides with Earth's atmosphere, triggering a fleeting flare of light that can outshine the planets themselves in the night sky. The color of a burning meteor is determined by a number of factors such as its speed, composition and how it compresses the air in its path, according to the American Meteor Society. Bright, reddish flashes of light can arise when fast-moving meteors strike the atmosphere at tens of thousands of miles per hour, compressing the air in front of them. This process causes them to glow brightly in the night sky and has the potential to force atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen atoms trapped in the meteor's path to release an abundance of reddish light, according to NASA. Meteors with a high sodium content also have a tendency to burn with an orange-yellow light. No major meteor showers were active on the night in question, so it's likely that the Maoming City fireball was born of a 'sporadic meteor' - a random piece of space debris left over from the creation of the solar system that happened to collide with Earth on May 28. Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Space photo of the day for May 30, 2025
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A bright meteor, also called a fireball, is seen falling into Earth's atmosphere. From the perspective of the camera, it appears in the sky above the dome of Kitt Peak National Observatory. Kitt Peak National Observatory is in the Sonoran Desert, in Tucson, Arizona. The area was chosen for its access to dark skies and its altitude — over a mile (2.1 kilometers) above sea level — placing the telescope above most of our planet's thick atmosphere. According to NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory), which, like, Kitt Peak is a project of the National Science Foundation, a meteor streak has to be brighter than how the planets appear in the sky (an apparent magnitude of –4 or brighter) to be considered a "fireball." You can read more about meteors and learn when meteor showers are expected this year. You can also read more about Kitt Peak National Observatory.
CTV News
23-05-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Wildfire mitigation in Alberta boosted by $7M provincial investment
A giant fireball is seen as a wildfire rips through the forest 16 kilometres south of Fort McMurray, Alta. on Highway 63 Saturday, May 7, 2016. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
The Australian
13-05-2025
- Science
- The Australian
Perth, WA: Witnesses stunned as ‘fireball' meteor lights up sky
Residents in Western Australia have been stunned by a 'fireball' meteor that lit up the skies, even taking astronomers by surprise. The bright fireball passed through the skies about 6am on Sunday over the Central Wheatbelt, producing a brilliant yellow flash and a trail of bright green. Witnesses were able to catch a glimpse of the early-morning meteor from Perth to the Goldfields, however, experts are yet to determine where it eventually landed. Residents in Western Australia have been stunned as a meteor lit up the skies on Sunday morning. Picture: Supplied The Perth Observatory said the astronomical sight was 'most likely an iron meteor' which had been 'orbiting within the inner Solar System'. 'To shine that brightly, the fireball — technically known as a bolide — would have been about the size of a cricket ball to a basketball,' the observatory said online. According to Perth Observatory astronomer Matt Woods, the meteor would have been travelling between 16 to 60km per second, leaving behind a trail of green as the built-up friction melted. It was a sight that took Mr Woods and the Perth observatory team off-guard. 'We weren't expecting this meteor at all,' he said 'The astronomy community does have wide-field telescope surveys constantly monitoring the night sky, and they occasionally detect larger meteors that are unlikely to cause damage a few hours before they enter the atmosphere. 'However, smaller meteors like this one often go undetected until they appear.' The 'fireball' meteor left a green trail in its wake Picture: Supplied Despite being an uncommon sight for everyday Australians, Mr Woods said the meteor wasn't 'as rare as you might think'. 'The earth is struck by around a hundred tonnes of debris each year,' he said. 'However, because about 70 per cent of the earth's surface is covered by water, most meteors fall over oceans or remote areas, making it relatively uncommon for people to witness them.' Some thought the light was the moon. Picture: Supplied The meteor was spotted across much of the state. Picture: Supplied Online, witnesses were dumbfounded by the 'spectacular' sight, with some believing it was an aeroplane. 'Never seen anything like it,' one person wrote. 'Thought someone was driving at us with high beams on at first,' said another, who watched it pass overhead from Newdegate. A resident from Mt Magnet said they initially thought the 'huge and burning bright orange-red' light was 'the moon until it moved'. The meteor created a bright orange and red light. Picture: Supplied Some thought the meteor was the Kosmos 482, a Soviet-era spacecraft that plunged back to earth more than 50 years after its failed launch to Venus. However, Curtin University astrophysicist Steven Tingay told the ABC it was unlikely the fallen spacecraft, which likely landed over the Indian Ocean on Saturday, though European and US agencies are yet to confirm its exact location. The meteor comes days after the Eta Aquarids meteor shower lit up the skies in Victoria, though Mr Woods told NewsWire Sunday morning's meteor was just a 'coincidence'. '(The meteor) wasn't related to the Eta Aquarids meteor shower; it's just a coincidence,' he said. 'The Eta Aquarids meteor shower consists of tiny ice and rocky particles left behind by Halley's comet as it has orbited the sun over millennia. 'In contrast, this meteor was much larger, estimated to be between the size of a cricket ball and a basketball. 'Around this time of year, the earth passes through the trail left by Halley's comet, but this particular meteor did not originate from that shower; it's most likely been orbiting around the sun within the inner solar system.'
News.com.au
12-05-2025
- Science
- News.com.au
Mysterious green flash lights up night sky
Early risers from Perth to the Goldfields have had the celestial show of a lifetime after a mysterious green light lit up the sky just before 6am yesterday. Experts from the Perth Observatory were able to capture the light through surveillance cameras and believe it was most likely a 'small meteor'. In a clip shared to social media a Kalgoorlie man captured the incredible sight while out prospecting in the outback. As he pans his camera around the bushland he can be heard saying, 'It's Mother's Day, we've got to start coming out here a bit later because it's 6am and it's dark.' Out of nowhere, he excitedly shouts 'Look, look, meteor' as a bright light burns through the sky. 'What a sight, wow,' he exclaims as the meteor leaves a spectacular green trail behind it. Matthew Woods from Perth Observatory told the ABC that it may have entered the atmosphere over the central wheatbelt but they're not entirely sure where it landed. 'It's most likely an iron meteor that's been orbiting within the inner solar system.' Mr Woods said the meteor would have heated up because of the friction caused when it came through the atmosphere. 'And that's where you're getting to see that lovely green, orange glow,' he said. He estimates the meteor to be anywhere between the size of a cricket ball to the size of a basketball. Stunned witnesses took to social media to report seeing a 'fireball' tear through the sky. 'I've never seen anything like it,' said one truck driver. 'I saw it in Mandurah looking east. A very vibrant green tail with an orange fireball which appeared to explode,' said one woman. 'I saw it from Mt Magnet WA at about 6am. It was so big and bright that I initially thought that it was the moon until it moved,' wrote another. Mr Woods said witnessing a fireball in the sky was rare because the Earth was 70 per cent ocean. 'Earth gets hit by about 100 tonnes of material each year, so most of these really bright ones happen over the ocean or while we sleep.' Experts are still looking to locate the site where it landed but said overall the event was 'a nice Mother's Day surprise.'
