Meteor light show
Last night in Perth, Wester Australia, residents were treated to a fantastic site as the sky was lit up by a meteor burning up in our atmosphere. Ordinary meteors, or “shooting stars”, are actually just grains of dust that hit earth at high speed; the resulting air resistance heats them up so much that they burn up, giving off the light that we see. This meteor, however was apparently about the size of a basketball - meaning it gave off a lot more heat, lit up the entire sky, and created a thundering sound that shook buildings!
I saw a meteor something like that, although not quite as spectacular, when I was on an AstroCamp with the Brisbane Astronomical Society (and the PAIN Physics Club from UQ!) It was very bright, and had a green tail that stretched out behind it (which (I presume!) were tiny fragments burnt off and still glowing). I was really hoping it would come down somewhere nearby, but it kept going off towards the horizon, so we don’t know where (or if - it may have burnt up completely first) it actually landed.
I have to think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime, or twice at best, experience, unless you’re more than an amateur astronomer. Most of the time, we just have to settle for the best meteor showers we can find.