Streak of Light With a Tail? Meteors and Fireballs Explained
A bright streak shooting across the sky in a second or two is a meteor: a speck of space rock burning up high in the atmosphere. Unusually bright ones, called fireballs, can light up the ground, glow green or orange and break into pieces.
What it looks like
- A fast streak lasting a second or a few seconds.
- A glowing tail or trail, sometimes lingering briefly.
- Green, orange or white colours, and sometimes fragments breaking off.
- Usually silent; very rarely a sonic boom follows minutes later.
- More frequent during annual meteor showers.
How to check
- See whether a meteor shower was active on our meteor shower calendar.
- Fireballs are often seen by many people over a wide area, so look for other reports that night.
- A slower, longer-lasting fireball that breaks into a line of glowing pieces can be space debris re-entering.
Questions
What is the difference between a meteor and a fireball?
A fireball is simply a very bright meteor, brighter than the planet Venus.
Why are some meteors green?
The colour comes from the chemistry of the rock and the air it heats; green is often linked to oxygen and metals like nickel and magnesium.