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Credit & Copyright: Cory Poole
Explanation:
This picture was supposed to feature a comet.
Specifically, a series of images of the
brightest comet of 2021 were being captured:
Comet Leonard.
But the universe had other plans.
Within a fraction of a second, a
meteor
so bright it could be called a fireball
streaked
through just below the comet.
And the meteor's flash was even
more green than the comet's coma.
The cause of the meteor's green was likely
magnesium
evaporating from the meteor's pebble-sized core, while the cause of the
comet's green was likely
diatomic carbon
recently ejected from the comet's
city-sized
nucleus.
The images were taken 10 days ago over the
Sacramento River and
Mt. Lassen in
California,
USA.
The fireball was on the leading edge of this year's
Geminid Meteor Shower -- which peaked a few days later.
Comet Leonard is now fading after reaching naked-eye visibility last week --
but now is
moving
into southern skies.
Almost Hyperspace:
Random APOD Generator
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: comet - fireball
Publications with words: comet - fireball
See also:
- APOD: 2024 April 17 Á Total Eclipse and Comets
- APOD: 2024 April 8 Á The Changing Ion Tail of Comet Pons Brooks
- Comet Pons-Brooks at Night
- APOD: 2024 March 18 Á Comet Pons Brooks Swirling Coma
- Comet 12P/Pons Brooks in Northern Spring
- Structure in the Tail of Comet 12P/Pons Brooks
- The Snows of Churyumov Gerasimenko