Fireball meteor lights Japan’s sky up in blue, caught on camera | WATCH | World News

A fireball meteor tore through the Earth’s atmosphere and lit up the sky with bright blue light in Japan’s Kyushu and Shikoku, with Fukuoka Airport’s camera catching the event on footage.

Several videos of the meteor falling into the sky went viral on social media.

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Last week, a “meteoroid cluster” phenomenon was observed in Aomori Prefecture in northeastern Japan. The rare sighting, wherein many meteors appear almost simultaneously, occurred as the Perseid meteor shower hit its peak.

The Perseids are among the three major meteor showers. They are known for their fast and brilliant fireballs, and are caused by debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.

What is a meteor?

According to NASA, when meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere, or of any other planet, at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors. Meteoroids are rocks in space that can range from the size of dust grains to small asteroids.

Around 44 tonnes of meteoritic material falls on Earth every day, NASA said, citing scientists, adding that almost all the material is vaporised in Earth’s atmosphere, leaving behind a bright trail, which is fondly known as “shooting stars”.

Meteor showers occur on an annual basis or at regular intervals as the Earth passes through the trail of dusty debris left behind by a comet. These showers are usually named after a star or a constellation that is close to where the meteors appear in the sky.

The most famous meteor shower, according to NASA, is the Perseids.