Source: Radio New Zealand
People across the North Island are reporting possible sightings of a meteor.
Social media users, including one in Kaitaia, have shared videos of or reported seeing a bright flash light up the sky in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Te Whatu Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki said he had received at least a dozen reports of the event, which appeared to be similar to the meteor in Wellington last week.
He said a meteor or “shooting star” was fairly common but rare to see.
Astronomer Josh Aoraki says the event appears to have been similar to the meteor in Wellington last week (pictured here). Supplied/ PredictWind.com
“It’s usually a small point of light moving fast over the sky.
“From the reports today, it sounds like it was what’s called a fireball, which usually moves a bit slower and is a lot brighter. Often you can see an object breaking up and flashing with light, and they have a distinct green hue, very different from a satellite or a comet.
He said that while these meteors were common occurrences, it was rare to see one.
“Meteors themselves are not rare. Astronomers estimate that about 100 tonnes of debris, which is essentially stuff from space, falls to Earth every day.
“The rarity is actually seeing them because we don’t usually get very bright ones. Most happen over the ocean, so to see it over a populated area is very rare.
A social media user in Kaitaia reported a bright flash lighting up the sky in the early hours of Thursday morning. Supplied / Screenshot
“It’s luck we’ve had two really bright ones recently.”
He said expected the meteor could have been seen from several areas across the North Island.
Stardome was working to confirm the sightings and it was possible, if it was big enough, that a meteorite could have hit land, Aoraki said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
