Un drunk in astronomy it is a celestial phenomenon that catches our attention and makes us look up at the sky. When we talk about fireballs, we refer to those bright flashes that appear fleetingly at night, leaving a luminous trail in their wake. But what exactly is a car?
In this article we are going to tell you what is a bolide, its characteristics, types and historical events.
What is a bolide in astronomy
We could say that it is a kind of "improved shooting star". Unlike regular shooting stars, which are tiny dust particles that burn up upon entering Earth's atmosphere, fireballs are much more impressive. They are larger chunks of cosmic material, like asteroids or comets, hurtling into our atmosphere at breakneck speeds.
When a fireball crosses the sky, friction with the air causes the object to heat up rapidly. This generates an intense light reaction, which can be as bright as the full moon and even illuminate the entire night landscape. It is an impressive spectacle.
The beauty of racing cars lies in their transience. Unlike stars that stay in the same place, fireballs streak across the sky rapidly, disappearing in a matter of seconds or minutes.
The racing cars They are usually observed during meteor showers., astronomical events in which the Earth passes through a region of space with a particularly high concentration of cosmic fragments. These fragments enter our atmosphere in large numbers, creating an even more impressive spectacle of fireballs streaking across the sky. If you'd like to learn more about these showers, you can read about the rain of stars.
Outstanding features
These cosmic objects travel at tremendous speeds as they hurtle toward Earth, often exceeding 60 kilometers per second. They can also exhibit vibrant and varied colors. As they burn up in the atmosphere, they can emit hues ranging from brilliant white to yellow, orange, green, and even deep blue. The range of colors is simply spectacular and adds a touch of magic to the event.
Another notable feature is the trail they leave behind. As the cosmic object speeds through Earth's atmosphere, it can leave a trail of light that persists for several seconds or even minutes after the bolide has disappeared. This trail can have different shapes and can extend for a considerable distance in the night sky, creating a memorable and unforgettable image.
It is important to note that the fireballs do not represent a direct threat to us. Although they may look impressive and sometimes break up into smaller fragments, most of them vanish in the atmosphere before reaching the Earth's surface. Only rarely, when they are big enough, some fragments can survive the intense heat and reach the surface, becoming meteorites. To better understand these phenomena, we invite you to explore more about .
Historical events where there has been a bolide
In 2013, the fall of the Chelyabinsk meteorite coincided with the passage of the asteroid 2012 DA14 (currently 367943 Duende). The apparent independence between the two events, and the possible indication that such events may be more common than initially assumed, has led to a revision of the rate of descent of superbolides on Earth.
There are many difficulties in making a statistical record of superbolide detection. For example, currently there are many objects in the sky that can be confused with fireballs, and only those that are close to crowds or very bright can be detected.
Residents before the conquest of the air, except in relatively remote rural areas, had no problem combining these events with non-fireball phenomena. Considering that fireball and meteor observations have been widely reported in the media around the world over the years, this is an ideal environment for statistical studies of historical superbolide sightings.
To add to the current knowledge of fireballs, a database of meteorite detections from 1750 to the present was prepared. Drawing on the strengths of this field of research, more than 1,000 historical news articles were analyzed to find news related to major meteorites and fireballs. It is thus possible to detail certain aspects: the geographical location of the event, the categories that classify it according to its nature, the sonic boom, the possible remains found and other characteristics to highlight, such as the color, trajectory or duration of the sightings.
They examined 150 years of copies of the New York Times newspaper between 1850 and 2000 and found 420 events that could be considered fireballs. Documents provided by the Digital Newspaper Library of the National Library were also consulted, as well as the newspaper library of the ABC newspaper, finding in this case 200 events distributed from 1750 to the present.
Tracking and types of cars
One of the most common ways to track the cars is through networks of video and photography cameras located in different places. These cameras are designed to capture high-quality images of the night sky and automatically record any light event, such as the appearance of a fireball. By combining and analyzing the images from multiple cameras, researchers can determine the bolide's precise trajectory, its speed, and its height in the atmosphere.
In addition to tracking cameras, infrasound detectors and radio waves are also used to monitor the cars. These detectors are capable of capturing the sound and electromagnetic waves generated by the fireballs as they pass through the atmosphere. These data provide additional information about the energy released, the mass and the altitude of the object in question.
Regarding the types of fireballs, we can distinguish two main categories: meteoric fireballs and space fireballs. Fireballs are fragments of cosmic material, usually asteroids or comet debris, that enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up due to friction. These are the most common racing cars and They are responsible for the popular meteor showers, such as the Perseids or the Leonids.
On the other hand, space fireballs are objects that come from beyond our solar system. These can be interstellar fragments that have been captured by the Sun's gravity, or even remnants of more distant objects, such as runaway stars or dust clouds. Space fireballs are much rarer to detect and their study offers a broader view of the cosmic diversity that surrounds us.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about What is a bolide in astronomy? and their characteristics.