Daily News Analysis ‘Meteors, Fireballs, and Atmospheric Airbursts ’ : 1 June

Why in News: 

• A meteor disintegrated over the northeastern United States, producing a high-energy fireball explosion with a blast yield equivalent to 300 tonnes of TNT.

Basic facts

• Classification Definitions: Celestial objects are classified dynamically based on their location and physical state:
• Meteoroid: A small rocky or metallic particle floating in outer space, ranging in size from a grain of dust to small asteroids.
• Meteor: The visible streak of light—commonly called a “shooting star”—produced when a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed and burns up due to friction.
• Meteorite: Any surviving remnant of a meteoroid that withstands the intense atmospheric entry heat and actually strikes the ground.
• The Fireball (Bolide) Threshold: A fireball is an exceptionally bright meteor that reaches a visual magnitude brighter than the planet Venus when viewed from the ground. A bolide is a specific sub-type of fireball that ends with a dramatic, audible atmospheric explosion.