A bright object, initially appearing to be a meteorite, lit up the skies over Mexico’s capital at about 3am on Wednesday, stretching over plains, volcanoes and small towns.
Videos of a ball of fire shooting over the Latin American country and dissolving in a burst of light over Mexico City struck awe in many — and quickly became the fuel for memes circulating on social media.
“No, the meteorite that exploded last night isn’t an excuse to talk to your ex,” someone wrote on X, over a GIF of dinosaurs walking through a meteorite shower.
Soon, photographs of the fireball edited with cartoon characters and political jokes flooded the Internet.
Scientists across Mexico said that the object that rocketed across the skies was a bolide — the fiery phenomenon of a rock from space burning up completely in the atmosphere.
A meteorite is when the material reaches the surface.
Bolides, defined by NASA as fireballs, are “exceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to be seen over a very wide area.”
Mario Rodriguez, a doctor in space science with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said it could also be described as a meteoroid, or a fragment of a meteor.
Bolides like the one that coasted over Mexico catch fire as they descend to Earth.
“Due to the great pressure on the object, they begin to flash with a stretching tail and emit light,” said Rodriguez, one of a group of scientists studying the videos that shocked many Mexicans.
He said that unlike meteorites, which impact Earth, a bolide disintegrates in the atmosphere.
This particular meteoroid was about 1.5m in length and posed no threat to the public, he added.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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