What's the chemistry behind these green sightings?
Bright-green fireballs that streaked across the skies over New Zealand last month may finally have an explanation.
"We have seen a tremendous increase in the number of reports from New Zealand," said Robert Lunsford, a fireball report coordinator at the American Meteor Society, who told Live Science that fireball reports from New Zealand have now surpassed those from Australia, which is nearly 30 times larger. These fireballs' intense green color makes it more likely that people will report the sightings, he added. It's also recently become easier than ever to report a fireball.
As much smaller meteors moving as fast as 45 miles per second strike Earth's atmosphere, solar particles ionize oxygen in the upper atmosphere. The same process creates green auroras. "Fireballs — as were the case observed here — occur lower down, less than 37 miles up, and the green color in them is produced by large bodies composed of metallic material such as nickel, iron and magnesium," Baggaley said.
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