a bright meteor Several definitions have been used by various authors In the IMO's Fireball Data Center (FIDAC) all meteors of at least -3 0 magnitude are stored as fireballs
A bright meteor with luminosity which equals or exceeds that of the brightest planets
An extremely bright meteor Also known as bolides, fireballs can be several times brighter than the full Moon Some can even be accompanied by a sonic boom
A meteor that is much brighter than average and is produced by a meteoroid whose size is approximately at least the same as a pea This is in contrast to the average meteor which is produced by an object the size of a grain of sand
the luminous center of a nuclear explosion a ball of fire (such as the sun or a ball-shaped discharge of lightning)
A luminous meteor, resembling a ball of fire passing rapidly through the air, and sometimes exploding
A charge resembling the ancient war instrument of that name, which was an oval-shaped projectile made of canvas and filled with combustible composition
Although occasionally used for any meteor of negative magnitude, this term is usually reserved for much brighter meteors The International Meteor Organisation defines fireballs as being meteors of magnitude -3 or brighter The meteor section of the British Astronomical Association on the other hand has a much stricter definition, requiring the meteor to be magnitude -5 or brighter