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A bigger meteor penetrates further into the atmosphere and slows down becoming cooler as it hits the denser air.
So in addition to the ionisation of the atmospheric gas surrounding it, there must be a colour temperature effect of the glow of the meteor.
From hottest to coolest
white
blue
green
yellow
orange
red
I've always assumed that this is why the biggest ones are the most colourful and why small pieces ejected from the bigger piece are often orange and red. They are smaller and therefore cool quickly.
Joe
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