What causes bright green meteors?

[interested_learner]

I saw a bright green meteor yesterday. What would cause a meteor to be bright green? Is this common?

 

[neutrino]

Any chance you're from Colorado?

DENVER FIREBALL: Something from space disintegrated over Denver, Colorado, this morning around 6:20 am MST (1320 UT). Witnesses describe it as "brilliant, slow, twinkling, sparkly and full of rainbow colors." It was not a meteor. The fireball was the decaying body of a Soyuz U rocket that launched the French COROT space telescope on Dec. 27th. The re-entry caused no damage on the ground--just a beautiful display in the sky. More: news video, ground track, amateur photo.

http://spaceweather.com/

http://www.livescience.com/blogs/2007/01/04/russian-rocket-dazzles-the-skies-above-colorado-wyoming/

 

[interested_learner]

No Arizona and it was in the evening.

 

[chroot]

Many meteors are green. Perhaps even most, by my personal experience. I'm speculating, but the green color may actually be emission from ionized oxygen...

Most meteors are composed principally of nickel and iron, but I honestly don't know what the "flame test" colors of these metals are.

- Warren