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A fireball over desert mountains | Space photo of the day for May 30, 2025

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Astronomical observatories are used to bring space closer to Earth, but in this case, space appears to approach the telescope.

A meteor streak is captured as it plunges through Earth's atmosphere over Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. (Image credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Dai)

What is it?

A bright meteor, also called a fireball, is seen falling into Earth's atmosphere. From the perspective of the camera, it appears in the sky above the dome of Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Where is it?

Kitt Peak National Observatory is in the Sonoran Desert, in Tucson, Arizona. The area was chosen for its access to dark skies and its altitude — over a mile (2.1 kilometers) above sea level — placing the telescope above most of our planet's thick atmosphere.

Why is it amazing?

According to NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory), which, like, Kitt Peak is a project of the National Science Foundation, a meteor streak has to be brighter than how the planets appear in the sky (an apparent magnitude of –4 or brighter) to be considered a "fireball."

Where can I learn more?

You can read more about meteors and learn when meteor showers are expected this year. You can also read more about Kitt Peak National Observatory.

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Robert Z. Pearlman
Robert Z. Pearlman
collectSPACE.com Editor, Space.com Contributor

Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018.In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.

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