Editing Meteor (section)

== Fireball ==
{{main|List of bolides}}
[[File:Взрыв метеорита над Челябинском 15 02 2013 avi-iCawTYPtehk.ogv|thumb|Camera recording of a [[Chelyabinsk meteor|superbolide]] passage above [[Chelyabinsk Oblast]], Russia on 15th February 2013. The object in this video is estimated to be {{Measurement converter|17 to 20|m|ft}} in diameter before atmospheric entry.]]

A '''fireball''' is a brighter-than-usual meteor which can be also seen during daylight. The [[International Astronomical Union]] (IAU) defines a fireball as "a meteor brighter than any of the planets" ([[apparent magnitude]] −4 or greater).<ref name="meteor-13871">{{cite web |url=http://www.meteorobs.org/maillist/msg13871.html |first=George |last=Zay |title=MeteorObs Explanations and Definitions (states IAU definition of a fireball) |publisher=Meteorobs.org |date=1999-07-09 |access-date=2011-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001080446/http://www.meteorobs.org/maillist/msg13871.html |archive-date=2011-10-01 }}</ref> The [[International Meteor Organization]] (an amateur organization that studies meteors) has a more rigid definition. It defines a fireball as a meteor that would have at least magnitude of −3 if seen at [[zenith]]. This definition corrects for the greater distance between an observer and a meteor near the horizon. For example, a meteor of magnitude −1 at 5 degrees above the horizon would be classified as a fireball because, if the observer had been directly below the meteor, it would have appeared as magnitude −6.<ref name="IMO-fireball">{{cite web |url=http://www.imo.net/fireball |title=International Meteor Organization - Fireball Observations |publisher=imo.net |date=2004-10-12 |access-date=2011-09-16 }}</ref>

Fireballs reaching apparent magnitude −14 or brighter are called [[bolide]]s.<ref name="Belton">{{cite book |last1=Di Martino |first1=Mario |last2=Cellino |first2=Alberto |chapter=Physical properties of comets and asteroids inferred from fireball observations |title=Mitigation of hazardous comets and asteroids |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |page=156 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw0A7T0fy6AC&pg=PA156 |isbn=978-0-521-82764-5 |editor-last=Belton |editor1-first=Michael J. S. |editor2-last=Morgan |editor2-first=Thomas H. |editor3-last=Samarasinha |editor3-first=Nalin |display-editors = 3 |editor4-last=Yeomans |editor4-first=Donald K. }}</ref> The IAU has no official definition of "bolide", and generally considers the term synonymous with "fireball". Astronomers often use "bolide" to identify an exceptionally bright fireball, particularly one that explodes in a [[meteor air burst]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=bolide |editor-last=Ridpath |editor-first=Ian |editor-link=Ian Ridpath |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy |year=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location= |isbn=978-0-19-185119-3 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191851193.001.0001/acref-9780191851193-e-487 |access-date=2024-09-03 }}</ref> They are sometimes called detonating fireballs. It may also be used to mean a fireball which creates audible sounds. In the late twentieth century, bolide has also come to mean any object that hits Earth and explodes, with no regard to its composition (asteroid or comet).<ref name="Google-Book-jR84AAAAIAAJ">{{cite book |last=Rogers |first=John J. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jR84AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA251 |title=A History of the Earth |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |page=251 |isbn=978-0-521-39782-7 }}</ref> The word ''bolide'' comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] βολίς (''bolis'') <ref name="myet-bolide">{{cite web |url=http://www.myetymology.com/english/bolide.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117162151/http://www.myetymology.com/english/bolide.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=January 17, 2012 |publisher=MyEtymology |title=Bolide }}</ref> which can mean ''a missile'' or ''to flash''. If the magnitude of a bolide reaches −17 or brighter it is known as a [[superbolide]].<ref name="Belton" /><ref name="Google-Book-3Hd8Lw1hExUC">{{cite book |last1=Adushkin |first1=Vitaly |last2=Nemchinov |first2=Ivan |title=Catastrophic events caused by cosmic objects |publisher=Springer |date=2008 |page=133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Hd8Lw1hExUC |isbn=978-1-4020-6451-7 |bibcode=2008cecc.book.....A }}</ref> A relatively small percentage of fireballs hit Earth's atmosphere and then pass out again: these are termed [[Earth-grazing fireball]]s. Such an event happened in [[The Great Daylight 1972 Fireball|broad daylight over North America in 1972]]. Another rare phenomenon is a [[meteor procession]], where the meteor breaks up into several fireballs traveling nearly parallel to the surface of Earth.

A steadily growing number of fireballs are recorded at the [[American Meteor Society]] every year.<ref name="AMS-Fireballs" /> There are probably more than 500,000 fireballs a year,<ref name="AMS-FAQ">{{cite web
 |title=Fireball FAQs
 |publisher=[[American Meteor Society]]
 |url=http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/faqf/
 |access-date=2013-03-21
}}
</ref> but most go unnoticed because most occur over the ocean and half occur during daytime. A [[European Fireball Network]] and a NASA All-sky Fireball Network detect and track many fireballs.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cook|first=Bill|title=NASA's All Sky Fireball Network|url=https://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov|access-date=2021-03-04}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin: 0.1em auto;"
|+ Fireball Sightings reported to the American Meteor Society&thinsp;<ref name="AMS-Fireballs">{{cite web
 |title=Fireball Logs
 |author=American Meteor Society
 |url=http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/fireball-report/
 |access-date=2016-09-28
}}</ref>
|-
! Year
! width=55 | 2008
! width=55 | 2009
! width=55 | 2010
! width=55 | 2011
! width=55 | 2012
! width=55 | 2013
! width=55 | 2014
! width=55 | 2015
! width=55 | 2016
! width=55 | 2017
! width=55 | 2018
! width=55 | 2019
! width=55 | 2020
! width=55 | 2021
|-
| '''Number''' || 734 || 676 || 953 || 1,660 || 2,183 || 3,599 || 3,789 || 4,250 || 5,391 || 5,510 || 5,993 || 6,978 || 8,259  || 9,629
|}