Update: Experts mixed over mysterious
flash
The mysterious green flash has been the talk of town since it was
sighted yesterday evening (7 Jan) by STOMPers all across Singapore.
STOMP spoke to experts who gave their take on the mysterious green
light that blazed across our skies.
Although the meteorological service did not have any information
about this phenomenon as it was too small to be reflected on
satellite pictures, it is not stopping astronomy researchers and
fans from making their own deductions.
Director of the Singapore Science Centre, Dr Chew Tuan Chiong,
said: "I did not see the flash of green in our sky yesterday, but
it does appear to fit the description of a green flash, especially
since it occurs around sunset."
He continued: "The phenomenon of green flashes, though not common,
is very well known. It can happen both at sunrise and sunset. It
comes about because of scattering (by particles in the air), and
refraction (where the atmosphere acts like a lens), of
sunlight."
But it seems even the experts cannot agree. Albert Lim, president
of the Astronomical Society of Singapore(TASOS), said that the
bright light sighted was actually a fireball.
He said: "We can't be 100 per cent sure, but I'm 99.9 per cent sure
that it is a fireball."
According to him, what eyewitnesses saw was actually a bolide,
which is essentially a very bright meteor that has exploded, as
observed by several committee members of TASOS.
Members of TASOS have also had similar sightings in countries like
Thailand. Mr Lim said that bolides, though rare, would probably
have occurred in Singapore before.
One STOMPer, who declined to be named, echoed both experts'
comments and even came up with a few theories of his own.
The astronomy fan said: "It could be a foreign object of the
environment, like a fireball. Once an object like that enters the
atmosphere, it will disintegrate and become flares of light."
"But there are also other possibilities because I've read that
people spotted different colours, so it could be more than one
object. It could also be a refraction of some object that is on
Earth," he continued.
