Meteor crash turns night sky to daylight
One of the nation’s leading astrophysicists has confirmed that a meteor has crashed in Queensland, following widespread reports of ‘explosions’, ‘fireballs’ and a ‘luminous green light’.
People from across Queensland reported seeing a huge bright light flash in the sky on Saturday night, with hundreds of people taking to social media to share videos, pictures and descriptions of what they saw.
Commenting on a video post of the “explosion”, Lilah Yoelu said she was travelling between Ayr and Townsville when she saw the light.
“The light came out of nowhere and got brighter as it plummeted straight down to the ground,” she wrote in a
Facebook post. “The Luminous green and orange light lit up the sky. I was waiting for an explosion somewhere near Townsville.”
Townsville resident Brendon Scarr said his doorbell camera caught the moment the object entered Earth’s atmosphere, glowing green, then white and red as it fell.
“We were shocked because the night sky literally turned to daylight,” he said.
Airlie Wenona Coleman also saw it.
“Seen the same thing here in Townsville but it didn’t light the sky up like that, it was more like a huge flash towards Ingham way. It shocked all of us sitting around the fire too,” she wrote.
Australian National University astrophysicist and cosmologist Dr Brad Tucker described the phenomenon was “definitely a meteor”.
“Some people thought it was space junk. It’s definitely not space junk,” he said.
“Meteors have a characteristic look. They’re a bright solid light and they often have this bluer-green colour, and that’s due to the composition of the rock.
“A large fraction of this meteor would have bits of iron and nickel in it, which is what causes it to glow that colour.
“Based on the brightness, it was probably a metre to half a metre in size.
“As it hits the Earth’s atmosphere, it glows due to the friction.
“It’s travelling tens of thousands of kilometres an hour, hits the Earth’s atmosphere, causing it to burn and heat up, which is what people see.
“We also had the sonic boom. That would’ve been it creating the shockwave and part of the meteor fragmenting – breaking apart – with potentially bits of the rock landing on the ground.
“We get meteors like this probably once a month or so, but they often land in uninhabited areas or the ocean.
“Also, because it happened at 9.30 on a Saturday night, lots of people were out and about and were able to see it, so I think that built part of the excitement.”
Keen astronomer and owner of Night Sky Secrets, Ian Maclean told The Cairns Post it is believed the meteor fell near Croydon in far north west Queensland.
“Clearly it’s exploded in the upper atmosphere somewhere in the Gulf region, west of Cairns, and was felt and heard in Croydon,” Mr Maclean said.
He said people who lived in Croydon told him their houses shook to the point dust fell from the ceiling.