Bolide

A bolide – a very bright meteor of an apparent magnitude of −4 or brighter

World map of bolide events (1994–2013)^[1]

A bolide is normally taken to mean an exceptionally bright meteor, but the term is subject to more than one definition, according to context. It may refer to any large crater-forming body, or to one that explodes in the atmosphere. It can be a synonym for a fireball, sometimes specific to those with an apparent magnitude of −4 or brighter.

Definitions

Bolide from the French astronomy book Le Ciel; Notions 'Elémentaires d'Astronomie Physique (1877)

The word bolide (/ˈboʊlaɪd/; from Italian via Latin, from Ancient Greek βολίς (bolís) 'missile'^[2][3]) may refer to somewhat different phenomena depending on the context in which the word appears, and readers may need to make inferences to determine which meaning is intended in a particular publication.^[4] An early usage occurs in Natural History, where Pliny the Elder describes two types of prodigies, "those which are called lampades and those which are called bolides".^[5] At least one of the prodigies described by Pliny (a "spark" that fell, grew to the "size of the moon", and "returned into the heavens"^[6]) has been interpreted by astronomers as a bolide in the modern sense.^[7] His description of an object coming near the earth and continuing back into the sky matches the expected trajectory of a fireball crossing above an observer.^[8] A 1771 fireball that burst above Melun, France, was widely discussed by contemporary astronomers as a "bolide" and was the subject of an official French Academy of Sciences investigation led by Jean-Baptiste Le Roy.^[9] In 1794, Ernst Chladni published a book proposing that meteors were small objects that fell to Earth from space and that small bodies existed in space beyond the moon.^[10]

Astronomers use the word to describe any extremely bright meteor (or fireball), especially one that explodes in the atmosphere.^[4] Geologists use the word to describe a very large impact event.^[4]

One definition describes a bolide as a fireball reaching an apparent magnitude of −4 or brighter.^[11] Another definition describes a bolide as any generic large crater-forming impacting body whose composition (for example, whether it is a rocky or metallic asteroid, or an icy comet) is unknown.^[12]

A superbolide is a bolide that reaches an apparent magnitude of −17 or brighter,^[11][13] which is roughly 100 times brighter than the full moon. Recent examples of superbolides include the Sutter's Mill meteorite in California and the Chelyabinsk meteor in Russia.

Astronomy

See also: Meteoroid § Fireball

Animation of a bolide's atmospheric entry and air burst

The IAU has no official definition of "bolide", and generally considers the term synonymous with fireball, a brighter-than-usual meteor; however, the term generally applies to fireballs reaching an apparent magnitude −4 or brighter.^[11] Astronomers tend to use bolide to identify an exceptionally bright fireball, particularly one that explodes (sometimes called a detonating fireball).^[14] It may also be used to mean a fireball that is audible.

Superbolide

See also: Meteor air burst

Selected superbolide air bursts:

• Tunguska event (Russia, 1908)
• 2009 Sulawesi superbolide (Indonesia, 2009)
• Chelyabinsk meteor (Russia, 2013)

Geology

Geologists use the term bolide differently from astronomers. In geology, it indicates a very large impactor. For example, the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center of the USGS uses bolide for any large crater-forming impacting body whose origin and composition is unknown, as, for example, whether it was a stony or metallic asteroid, or a less dense, icy comet made of volatiles, such as water, ammonia, and methane.^[12]

The most notable example is the bolide that caused the Chicxulub crater 66 million years ago. Scientific consensus agrees that this event directly led to the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs, and it is evidenced by a thin layer of iridium found at that geological layer marking the K–Pg boundary.

Gallery

Footage of a superbolide exploding over Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia in 2013.

A bolide from the Geminids meteor shower (SAO RAS, vmag  −3) in December 2010.

Dashcam footage of a bolide over Vermont, USA in September 2024.

See also

• Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 § Impacts – Comet that collided with Jupiter
• Earth-grazing fireball – Meteoroid that enters Earth's atmosphere and leaves again
• Meteor procession – Meteor that breaks apart into fragments travelling in the same direction
• Tollmann's hypothetical bolide – Hypothetical impact eventPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Impact event#Airbursts – Collision of two astronomical objects
• Bugatti Bolide – track-focused hypercarPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• RBS 70 – Swedish man-portable air-defense system

References

1. "We are not Alone: Government Sensors Shed New Light on Asteroid Hazards". Universe Today. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
2. "bolide". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
3. "bolide". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
4. Sutter, Paul M. (16 January 2022). "Astronomy Jargon 101: Bolide". Universe Today.
5. "CHAP. 25.—EXAMPLES FROM HISTORY OF CELESTIAL PRODIGIES; FACES, LAMPADES, AND BOLIDES". Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK II. AN ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD AND THE ELEMENTS.
6. Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK II. We have an account of a spark falling from a star, and increasing as it approached the earth, until it became of the size of the moon, shining as through a cloud; it afterwards returned into the heavens and was converted into a lampas; this occurred in the consulship of Cn. Octavius and C. Scri- bonius. It was seen by Silanus, the proconsul, and his attendants.
7. Kronk, Gary W. (28 September 1999). Cometography: Volume 1, Ancient-1799: A Catalog of Comets. Cambridge University Press. p. 515. ISBN 978-0-521-58504-0.
8. Stothers, Richard B. (1987). "The Roman fireball of 76 BC". The Observatory. 107: 211–213. Bibcode:1987Obs...107..211S. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
9. Marvin, M. D. (1996). "Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni (1756-1827) and the origins of modern meteorite research". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 31 (5): 545-588.
10. Marvin, Ursula B. (1996). "Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni (1756–1827) and the origins of modern meteorite research". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 31 (5): 545–588. Bibcode:1996M&PS...31..545M. doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.1996.tb02031.x. ISSN 1945-5100. S2CID 210038676.
11. Belton, MJS (2004). Mitigation of hazardous comets and asteroids. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521827647.^: 156
12. "Introduction: What is a Bolide?". Woodshole.er.usgs.gov. 1 April 1998. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
13. Adushkin, Vitaly; Ivan Nemchinov (2008). Catastrophic events caused by cosmic objects. Springer. ISBN 978-1402064524.^: 133
14. Ian Ridpath, ed. (2018). "Bolide". A Dictionary of Astronomy (3 ed.). Oxford University Press. bolide. ISBN 978-0191851193.

External links

• historic record of bolides that have been witnessed entering the Earth’s atmosphere around the world from 861 through 2012 (B612 Foundation)
• Bolide Events from 1988 to the present neo.jpl.nasa.gov
• Earth Impact Effects Program Estimates crater size and other effects of a specified body colliding with Earth.