Video: Meteor lights up night sky in Australia (Reuters)
The sky over northern Queensland in Australia lit up brightly as a meteor passed through the atmosphere and made a supersonic boom.
Residents of Cairns, on the east coast off the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north of the continent, reported Saturday night seeing a growing fireball as it approached Earth.
Video from Cairns Airport shows the meteor making its way down a downward trajectory before disappearing in an orange-yellow flash. It is not known where the meteor landed, but residents of Croydon reported hearing a loud boom.
The meteor (Photo: screenshot, Twitter)
The meteor (Photo: screenshot, Twitter)
The meteor (Photo: screenshot, Twitter)
According to Tamara Davis, a professor at the University of Queensland, it was a "rogue" meteor that experts did not predict. "Meteors pass through our skies all the time, but this one looked particularly big because it was very bright," she told the Brisbane Times.
"The supersonic boom happens when a meteor crosses the atmosphere faster than the speed of sound. When the meteor slows down, the supersonic boom is created," she added.
- news
- World News
- Asia Pacific
Tags
- meteor
- Australia
- Queensland