Watch a bright fireball blaze a 48-mile path over the Midwest US (video)
Residents of several Midwestern U.S. states were treated to a dramatic natural light show in the early hours of Feb. 10, when a fireball meteor made a fiery descent, brightening the winter sky before appearing to disintegrate as it neared the horizon.
Meteors become visible when tiny shards of comets or asteroids known as meteoroids collide with Earth’s atmosphere while travelling at tens of thousands of miles per hour, compressing the air in their paths and causing it to glow.
Larger chunks of debris — which can range in size from a baseball to an SUV and beyond — create dazzling fireballs as they plough through the atmosphere, which are bright enough to outshine the brightest planets in the night sky. The relatively slow speed of the fireball led NASA to conclude that the object meteoroid that spawned it was likely once part of a larger asteroid — rather than a faster moving comet — which subsequently fractured into smaller pieces.
Feeling inspired to snap your own meteor imagery? Then be sure to read our guide detailing how to photograph shooting stars and to check out our roundups of the best camera bodies and lenses for capturing the night sky!
Editor’s Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com’s readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to [email protected].
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