Bright green fireball blazes over Ireland
A bright green meteor flashed through the night sky over Ireland before 19:00 LT on October 29, 2019. So far, 71 reports about the fireball were logged with the American Meteor Society (AMS).
"We received 71 reports about a fireball seen over County Cavan, County Clare, County Cork, County Dublin, County Galway, County Kerry, County Kildare, County Kilkenny, County Laois, County Leitrim, County Limerick, County Longford, County Louth, County Mayo, County Meath, County Monaghan, County Offaly and County Roscommon on Monday, October 28, 2019 around 18:56 UTC," AMS stated.
According to the agency, the meteor started over St. George's Channel and headed northwest, passing directly over Wexford and Kilkenny before fading out north of Templemore. This observation was based on an analysis of the trajectories recorded in those reports.
Ireland fireball October 28, 2019 – heatmap. Credit: AMS
A person named A. White sent a report containing fireball footage from his dashcam. He was traveling southeast along the North Wales Expressway, between Mochdre and Llandudno Junction, United Kingdom.
Another individual named Stephen J. was able to record the meteor through his dashcam as he drove down A499 along the coast of Wales.
Meteors occur when a meteoroid, a chunk of rock, goes directly in the path of Earth as the planet orbits around the Sun. The meteoroid pummels into the atmosphere with speeds of around 40 000 to 260 000 km/h (24 855 to 161 556 mph). As it plunges through the air deeper into the atmosphere, it quickly compresses the air in its path, causing the air to heat up making it glow – this is what makes the meteor flash in the sky.
Featured image credit: A. White
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