Fireball Dazzles Mexico City Skies and Captures Online Attention

On Wednesday morning, a brilliant fireball streaked across the skies near Mexico City, captivating onlookers and igniting conversations online. This celestial phenomenon, known as a bolide, is a type of fireball that explodes with a bright flash during its entry into Earth's atmosphere, as explained by experts from the American Meteor Society. Unlike meteorites, which are rocks that reach the ground, bolides are merely the luminous event associated with these space objects.

According to Jérôme Gattacceca, editor of The Meteoritical Bulletin, meteors brighter than Venus are classified as fireballs, and while they are quite common, bolides are less frequent but still not rare. As Guadalupe Cordero Tercero from UNAM Institute highlighted, a meter-sized object enters the atmosphere every 2.5 days on average, though they often go unnoticed as they primarily drop into oceans or uninhabited areas.

Denton Ebel, a meteorite curator, expressed excitement at the event, noting that the rumbling sound accompanying the fireball indicated fragmentation at a lower altitude which may suggest meteorite pieces reached the ground. This phenomenon is generally harmless; in fact, Dr. Gattacceca reassured the public that no one has been killed by falling meteorites in recorded history. With its breathtaking display, the fireball highlighted the unseen cosmic activity above and the safety of Earth’s inhabitants.

Aimee Ortiz reports on the astrological wonder from Mexico City.