Bright green fireball over Turkey
Image credit: M. Ilkaz (stillshot)
A very bright fireball streaked through the night sky over several cities in Turkey on July 5, 2024. The object was burning long enough to change color from bright green to bright blue.
A very bright meteor was observed on the night of July 5 in Turkey, as confirmed by the Turkish Space Agency in a post on X.
The meteor burned with a bright green flash across the sky in the cities of Safranbolu and Kastamonu, and was also visible from the cities of Ankara and Istanbul.
Bu gece ülkemizin çeşitli yerlerinde gökyüzünde görülen meteor heyecana neden oldu☄️
— Türkiye Uzay Ajansı (@tuajans) July 5, 2024
Meteorların atmosferden girişi sırasında oluşan renkler; meteorun kimyasal bileşimi, hızı ve Dünya atmosferinde bulunan gazlar gibi birkaç faktöre bağlı olarak farklılık göstermektedir.…
The sky put on a show over Turkey as a disintegrating #meteor streaked across the night on July 5. pic.twitter.com/ZWEFjo40CZ
— The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) July 8, 2024
The Turkish space agency confirms that was a meteor that flew through the skies yesterday pic.twitter.com/zmMXcQUrl1
— Todd Paron (@tparon) July 6, 2024
UEFA binasına yönlendirdim rahat olun #meteor pic.twitter.com/mqNDAw9mfO
— M.İlkaz (@SirMilkaa) July 5, 2024
Some experts argued that it might not have been a meteor, but rather space debris.
“Upon initial observation, the images do not resemble a meteor. The speed of the object entering the atmosphere appears relatively low. Meteors typically enter the atmosphere at much higher speeds, ranging from a minimum of 40 000 km/h (25 000 mph) to as much as 260 000 km/h (162 000 mph). The object in the images appears to be moving much slower. There is a possibility it is a piece of space debris,” said Associate Professor Mesut Yılmaz, the director of the Ankara University Kreiken Observatory.
“If it were a meteor, its impact would undoubtedly be felt. A significant crater, an explosion, a forest fire if it fell in a wooded area, or a minor tsunami if it fell into the sea would be inevitable. The impact of such an explosion would be unmistakable,” he added.
References:
1 Meteor Flashes Across Night Sky in Northern Turkey – Firstpost – July 10, 2024
2 Light beams over Türkiye attributed to meteor, space debris – Daily News – July 8, 2024
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
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