Saturday 30 April 2016

Bright fireball meteor seen over Southern California.

The American Meteor Society has received reports of a bright fireball meteor being seen over much of southern California slightly at about 9.30 pm local time on Monday 23 April 2016 (about 4.30 am on Tuesday 24 April GMT). The fireball has been described as being greenish in colour, which may indicate it was caused by the explosion of a small meteorite with a high iron content, and was seen from the northern Baja California as far north as Mendocino County, and east to western Arizona, though the majority of sightings were in Southern California. A fireball is defined as a meteor (shooting star) brighter than the planet Venus. These are typically caused by pieces of rock burning up in the atmosphere, but can be the result of man-made space-junk burning up on re-entry.

 Fireball over Southern California on Monday 23 April 2016. CBS2.

Objects of this size probably enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a year, though unless they do so over populated areas they are unlikely to be noticed. They are officially described as fireballs if they produce a light brighter than the planet Venus. It is possible that this object will have produced meteorites that reached the surface (an object visible in the sky is a meteor, a rock that falls from the sky and can be physically held and examined is a meteorite).

Witness reports can help astronomers to understand these events. If you witnessed this fireball you can report it to the American Meteor Society here

See also...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/bright-fireball-metoer-seen-over-much.htmlBright 'fireball' meteor seen over much of England.                                                       The UK Meteor Observation Network has received reports of a bright fireball meteor being seen over much of southern England slightly after 3.15 am GMT...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/fireball-seen-over-southern-france-and.htmlFireball seen over southern France and northern Italy.                                                  A bright fireball was seen over much of southeast France and northern Italy at about 6.20 pm local time on Wednesday 17...


http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/meteorite-unlikely-to-have-killed-man.htmlMeteorite unlikely to have killed man in Tamil Nadu.                                                         Indian newspaper The Hindu carried a report on Sunday 7 February 2016 in which the death of a man and injury of three other people as well as causing damage to several nearby buildings at the campus of a college in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, were described as...

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