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What falls with meteorites can be distinguished into fireballs and shooting stars, with yesterday’s glow belonging to the first category.
Fireballs and bolides are astronomical terms for exceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to to be seen over a very wide area.
During the atmospheric entry phase, an impacting object is both slowed and heated by atmospheric friction. In front of it, a bow shock develops where atmospheric gases are compressed and heated. Some of this energy is radiated to the object causing it to ablate, and in most cases, to break apart. Fragmentation increases the amount of atmosphere intercepted and so enhances ablation and atmospheric braking. The object catastrophically disrupts when the force from the unequal pressures on the front and back sides exceeds its tensile strength.
Objects causing fireballs are usually not large enough to survive passage through the Earth’s atmosphere intact, although fragments, or meteorites, are sometimes recovered on the ground.
Watch the video below. Reports of sightings were recorded in Kastoria, Chio, Samos, Viotia, Cyprus and even our island Zakynthos.
Main feature photo source:- space.com
