Michael Kleinburger hat kürzlich vom Hochkar ein spektakuläres Foto eines Meteoriten geschossen; NASA “Astronomy Picture of the Day”, 24.07.2023

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1. [https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230724.html](https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230724.html)

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   > **Chemicals Glow as a Meteor Disintegrates**
   **Image Credit & Copyright:** [Michael Kleinburger](https://www.instagram.com/kleinburger.photography/)

   **Explanation:** Meteors can be colorful. While the [human eye](https://medium.com/photography-secrets/whats-the-difference-between-a-camera-and-a-human-eye-a006a795b09f) usually cannot discern many colors, cameras often can. [Pictured here](https://www.instagram.com/p/CuwPGuCouFR/) is a [fireball](https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211220.html), a disintegrating meteor that was not only one of the brightest the photographer has [ever seen](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/1986767/shocked-cat.jpg), but colorful. The meteor was captured by chance in mid-July with a camera set up on [Hochkar Mountain](https://youtu.be/six1fCLityA) in [Austria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria) to photograph the central band of our [Milky Way galaxy](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/285/the-milky-way-galaxy/). The [radiant grit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Meteoroid_meteor_meteorite.gif), likely [cast off by a comet](https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101123.html) or asteroid long ago, had the misfortune to enter [Earth’s atmosphere](https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/atmosphere/en/). [Colors in meteors](https://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/faqf/#5) usually originate from ionized chemical elements released as the [meteor](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/meteors-and-meteorites/in-depth/) disintegrates, with blue-green typically originating from [magnesium](https://youtu.be/wqErrNvns4o), [calcium](https://periodic.lanl.gov/20.shtml) radiating violet, and [nickel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel) glowing green. Red, however, typically originates from energized [nitrogen](https://youtu.be/0kMqRhJ_A0c) and [oxygen](https://youtu.be/qERdL8uHSgI) in the Earth’s atmosphere. This bright [meteor](https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-faq/)ic [fireball](https://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/faqf/) was gone in a flash — less than a second — but it left a [wind-blown ionization trail](https://youtu.be/KJpQTL6V_WI) that [remained visible](https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180817.html) for almost a minute.