Astronomy
Meteor explodes over Arizona in brilliant green fireball
A meteor streaked across the sky early Oct. 6, flaring green before breaking apart, according to a webcam and astrophotographer.
A meteor exploded over Arizona in the early hours of Oct. 6, appearing as a brilliant green fireball that disintegrated near the horizon. The event was captured by a livestream webcam in Dragoon, Arizona, operated by the website SouthWest RailCams, Space.com reported.
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy shared his view on social media, describing it as an "absolutely insane sky-crossing meteor." He noted the fireball was "visibly green/turquoise with pieces breaking off" and glowed until about 10 degrees off the horizon. McCarthy said the object was moving too fast to be a satellite re-entry and guessed it landed somewhere over Tonto National Forest.
Fireballs occur when meteoroids, which are chunks of asteroids or comets ranging from a few centimeters to meters in size, strike Earth's atmosphere at tens of thousands of miles per hour. Atmospheric friction slows and heats them, sometimes making them outshine the planet Venus, according to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies, as cited by Space.com.
The fireball's green color likely points to a high magnesium content, the National Park Service told Space.com. Fragments of larger meteors that survive to the ground are called meteorites and can offer clues about the formation of the solar system.
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