I saw a bolide meteor while driving out to Montana last week. For those who are not familiar with bolide meteors, the Wikipedia has a nice description.
The word bolide comes from the Greek βολίς (bolis) [2] which can mean a missile or to flash. The IAU has no official definition of “bolide”, and generally considers the term synonymous with “fireball”. The term generally applies to fireballs reaching magnitude −14 or brighter.[12] Astronomers tend to use “bolide” to identify an exceptionally bright fireball, particularly one that explodes (sometimes called a detonating fireball). It may also be used to mean a fireball which creates audible sounds.
I have seen two bolide meteors in my life. I saw my first one while walking home from Catholic education one evening during 8th grade. It was very bright and lasted only a short period of time. About 30 seconds after it vanished, I heard a rumble. Next day, the local newspaper reported that a meteor had been spotted and fragments had been picked up on the ground.
Last week, I was driving late in the evening when I saw a bright white streak come across the sky that appeared to drop a yellow and then a green fragment. I have watched meteors my whole life and this was the first time that I saw colors. I did not know that others have seen colors until I saw this article. This was pretty cool!
