I've seen this twice already at my friends house at night and tonight aswell, it seems realy close and last about 4-5 seconds it's really awesome. Any one know what it might be?
2007-12-07 15:38:32 · 5 answers · asked by dave G 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
yea it's awesome how i've caught them in a 3 day span, its a good feeling
2007-12-07 16:03:06 · update #1
If it's a flash across the sky, it's most likely a meteor. If you have seen two in the last few days, you are very lucky. The long lasting ones which look like they have flames coming from the tail are called fireballs. They are meteors, but just a little larger than usual. The green color is not uncommon. The first one I ever saw looked like it was greenish.
As for distance, most people grossly underestimate. What most will think was only maybe a couple miles away was really a couple hundred. These are at the upper limits of the atmosphere and usually traveling at several miles per second.
I looked at the article ophello linked. I didn't see anything about the unlikelihood of green tinted meteors. It was mostly about whether they were UFOs or not. Again, I believe it could be caused by trace amounts of copper, (it wouldn't take much), or some other element.
2007-12-07 15:44:47 · answer #1 · answered by Brant 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is possible that what you saw was something called a Green flash. My astronomy book describes them as a very brief flash of green light sometimes seen just as the last sliver of the sun disappears at sunset or the first one appears at sunrise. The flash is caused by the refraction of sunlight through the great stretch of atmosphere between us and the setting sun; it occurs only when there are the right atmospheric conditions and a sharp horizon. They are supposed to be rare events, if this is what you saw, then you are luckier than I am.
2007-12-08 01:47:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Cool, Lucky for you.
Did you know they make sounds sometimes. I heard a meteor once. I felt special.
2007-12-08 00:10:02 · answer #3 · answered by don_sv_az 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yup... time to bet the Lotto.
I have seen two fireballs in 40 years. Both looked pretty much as you described (oops, three... saw one last summer!)
Green, no idea why, but mine were, too.
2007-12-07 23:53:23 · answer #4 · answered by Faesson 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
meteors arent green...but some will say they are. a green color is not typical of iron burning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_fireballs
read up on it -- meteors burn white. anything else is suspect.
2007-12-07 23:47:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋