The other night, in the midst of Beijings polluted air, I caught a good glimpse of what I thought was a shooting star, or a meteor. It was orange, huge, and had brown, glitter-like sparks coming from it. I'm just curious as to what it actually was, from a scientific point of view.
2007-08-11 15:25:54 · 4 answers · asked by Lia 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Hi, and Greetings from Louisiana, USA!
It was probably a meteor. I have seen many meteors (aka shooting stars) just like you described. The orange color is probably caused by the burning meteor's light passing through the polluted air, as I have never seen an orange colored meteor...but it may have been orange! Lots of strange stuff fall on the Earth every day.
2007-08-11 15:35:44 · answer #1 · answered by vise357 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have seen some meteors like that in the Ozark mountains where I live. But to see it in Beijing so bright seems odd. Maybe you can call the weather department, airports or Air force to see if anything was reported. Could be many things.
2007-08-11 15:33:13 · answer #2 · answered by khezr1 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Big ones like that are called fireballs. They are really what makes watching a meteor shower worthwhile.
The color probably has more to do with air pollution, it tends to make stuff look orange.
2007-08-11 15:46:15 · answer #3 · answered by trancejeremy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It might be what it technically called a FIREBALL. I saw one once and ACTUALLY HEARD IT WHISTLE.
It's a meteor that gets LOW into the AIR itself. Maybe 2-5 miles up.
2007-08-11 15:36:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋