A green-tinged fireball lit up the skies over the UK late Wednesday (Sept. 14).
An incoming meteor (or bunch of space particles, which some consultants say it could be) broke up between Scotland and northern Eire inside view of a lot of the UK, which has a inhabitants of almost 70 million individuals.
More than 1,000 reports (opens in new tab) flowed in to the American Meteor Society regardless of the late hour, together with a group of photographs and movies of the fireball occasion. Dozens of reviews and movies additionally appeared on Twitter, as you’ll be able to see under, from dashcams, doorbell cameras and cellphones.
Associated: Brilliant yellow-green fireball lights up sky above England (video, photos)
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Did I legit simply see a shooting star in Motherwell or is that one thing crashing out the sky? pic.twitter.com/DBQh8zXjnTSeptember 14, 2022
Can’t imagine I seen this and managed to catch it on digital camera!! Going over Paisley at 10pm☄️ #glasgow #paisley #meteor #comet #fireball @UKMeteorNetwork @Daily_Record pic.twitter.com/mH9o2062nISeptember 14, 2022
Fireball noticed crossing #Donegal this night. Described as inexperienced and lighting up the sky. Some described listening to a load bang a short while later. pic.twitter.com/0WavzL7cuKSeptember 14, 2022
Wow the comet tonight #comet #asteroid #meteor pic.twitter.com/jQ5YFvmhHLSeptember 14, 2022
Fireball over Glasgow, caught on my dashcam. #fireball #meteor pic.twitter.com/eoWDL6JgwNSeptember 14, 2022
Up to now we have now obtained 35 public reviews a few fireball noticed at 21:00 and a few our cameras caught it pic.twitter.com/jLDrHMPQvdSeptember 14, 2022
One viewer joked that the universe was celebrating their newly minted Ph.D.
Fairly nice of the universe to present me a #glasgow #meteor the day I move my PhD 🥳😂☄️ should you’ve any footage please be certain to ship it to @UKMeteorNetwork and @UK_FireballSeptember 15, 2022
AMA’s preliminary pc trajectory suggests the fireball first appeared north of Loch Ryan (roughly a two-hour drive southwest of Glasgow) and disappeared north of Islay Island, additional north alongside the coast of the UK.
The UK meteor community reported 800 viewings (opens in new tab) of the fireball within the early morning hours, including their consultants suspect it’s space particles.
Given the size of the reported occasion, at 19 seconds, astronomer Will Gater mentioned on Twitter additionally mentioned he suspected the fireball might be a space debris event (opens in new tab). Jonathan McDowell, a particles observer primarily based on the Harvard Smithsonian Middle for Astrophysics, tweeted (opens in new tab) it could be SpaceX Starlink satellite 4653, “however my estimate had it going a bit to the south of the U.Okay.”
Gater additionally wrote an article for New Scientist (opens in new tab), and spoke with College of Glasgow planetary scientist Luke Daly; Daly, a member of the UK Fireball Alliance, mentioned there may be “a fairly excessive probability that that is space junk” primarily based on metrics akin to its slower pace, “shallow entry angle [and] a considerable quantity of fragmentation.”
Whatever the fireball’s origin, the occasion was innocent because it occurred dozens of miles (or kilometers) excessive within the ambiance. No astronomical society has but reported whether or not it generated meteorites, which hardly ever occur when a space rock naturally breaks up within the ambiance and parts make it to the bottom.
Observe Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) and on Facebook (opens in new tab).
