Fireballs and bright meteors are small-sized NEOs, typically centimetres to metres in diameter, that collide with the Earth. They are sufficiently small to disintegrate almost completely in the atmosphere, leaving long bright trails. Some of the original material can survive the entry phase and reach the ground as meteorites. The study of meteors and meteorites can give important clues on the small-size distribution of the NEO population and the composition of asteroids and comets.

 

 

The Fireball Information System (FIS) currently focusses on providing a long-term archive of the German part of the ‘European Network (EN)’ of fireball cameras (2004-2021).