bolide

bolide (BOH-laid, BOH-lid) - n., an especially bright meteor, esp. one that explodes in the atmosphere, a fireball.


Where "especially bright" is sometimes defined by astronomers who care as brighter than the full moon, or magnitude -3, and sometimes as at least magnitude -14. The name came in 1784 from French, coined from Greek root bolís, missile.


Thanks, WikiMedia!

BOOM!

---L.