Havre de Grace, Maryland – The source of an enigmatic pulsating light swiftly traversing behind clouds over portions of the northeastern United States and Canada during the weekend has been pinpointed as a meteor, as indicated by the American Meteor Society (AMS). Following the sighting of a fireball blazing as it penetrated Earth’s atmosphere around 3:45 a.m. ET on Saturday, up to nine reports were submitted to the agency. Observers noted seeing the phenomenon from as distant as Maryland in the south and Ontario, Canada to the north, with additional sightings documented in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
“Caught a breathtaking green bolide meteor … SO BRIGHT,” exclaimed Mid-Atlantic Severe Weather Alert on social media, sharing a video recorded by their north-facing storm and aurora camera in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
Astronomers elucidate that a fireball is essentially an exceptionally bright meteor – surpassing magnitude -4, akin to the luminosity of Venus in the morning or evening sky. A bolide, on the other hand, is a particular category of fireball that culminates in a dazzling burst of light, often accompanied by visible fragments.
The AMS conveyed that the vivid hues frequently described by witnesses of fireballs are likely a result of their extraordinary brightness, rendering them easily discernible within the spectrum of human color perception.
Despite thousands of fireballs hurtling through Earth’s atmosphere each day, the AMS notes that most pass unnoticed. They commonly occur over oceans or unpopulated regions, get veiled by daylight, or simply escape the notice of the scant individuals outdoors at night.
The meteor observed on Saturday presumably disintegrated upon breaching Earth’s atmosphere. According to the AMS, for a fireball to have a chance of surviving atmospheric entry and reaching the ground as a meteorite, it must exhibit a brightness exceeding magnitude -8 to -10.
Source of the original article: Origin of mysterious bright green light streaking across Maryland sky identified.
