What is a Bolide?
The explosions and the boom sounds heard by the residents of Boston recently could be the result of “a rather significant bolide/meteor entering the atmosphere.”
- A bolide is a type of large, exceptionally bright meteor that often explodes in the upper atmosphere, producing a bright flash of light and occasionally fragmented meteorites reaching the ground.
- Bolides are distinguished from regular meteors by their greater brightness and more dramatic visual effects.
- Bolides can also produce loud booms.
- Bolides are more common than many people realize, with several occurring each year, though most go unnoticed or happen over remote areas.
- Studying bolides can provide valuable information about the composition and structure of meteoroids, as well as insights into the processes that occur during atmospheric entry.
- A space rock that has not entered the Earth’s atmosphere is usually referred to as a meteoroid or asteroid.
- Once in the Earth’s atmosphere, the rock traveling at very high velocities encounters friction from the atmosphere, resulting in a fireball that is then referred to as a meteor.
- Meteors that reach the ground are then called meteorites.
