Meteors seem to be raining down on New Zealand, but why are some bright green? [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

By Jack Baggaley published about 22 hours ago

New Zealand may seem to be under meteor bombardment at the moment.



A meteor seen over Sydney, Australia, on July 28, 2022. (Image credit: Saverio Marfia/Getty Images)

New Zealand may seem to be under meteor bombardment at the moment. After a huge meteor exploded(opens in new tab) above the sea near Wellington on July 7, creating a sonic boom that could be heard across the bottom of the South Island, a smaller fireball was captured two weeks later above Canterbury.

Fireballs Aotearoa(opens in new tab), a collaboration between astronomers and citizen scientists which aims to recover freshly fallen meteorites, has received a lot of questions about these events. One of the most frequent is about the bright green color, and whether it is the same green produced by auroras.



An aurora australis observed from the International Space Station. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-ND)

Green fireballs have been reported and filmed in New Zealand regularly. Bright meteors often signal the arrival of a chunk of asteroid, which can be anywhere between a few centimeters to a meter in diameter when it comes crashing through the atmosphere.

Some of these asteroids contain nickel and iron and they hit Earth's atmosphere at speeds of up to 60km per second. This releases an enormous amount of heat very quickly, and the vaporized iron and nickel radiate green light.

More:
https://www.space.com/green-meteors-new-zealand-explained?utm_campaign=58E4DE65-C57F-4CD3-9A5A-609994E2C5A9