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Incredible images of a flaming meteor crossing the night sky last week have gone viral online.
Captured from a research vessel off the coast of Tasmania, the video shows space debris flashing bright green before harmlessly separating.
The vessel, called RV Investigator, is operated by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).
The national research group is broadcasting a 24/7 live stream from a camera atop the ship.
“The meteor crosses the sky directly in front of the ship and then shatters,” CSIRO travel director John Hooper said last week.
“It was amazing watching the footage and we were so lucky to have captured everything on the ship’s livestream.”
He added, “The size and brightness of the meteor was incredible.”
According to a CSIRO blog post, the meteor, which was bright green, appeared on November 18.
It was spotted by the bridge crew and reported to the scientific staff on board.
At the time of recording, the investigator was in the Tasman Sea about 60 miles off the south coast of Tasmania.
He added: “The size and brightness of the meteor was incredible.”
According to a CSIRO blog post, the meteor, which was bright green, appeared on November 18.
It was spotted by the bridge crew and reported to the scientific staff on board.
At the time of recording, the investigator was in the Tasman Sea about 60 miles off the south coast of Tasmania.
The investigator is currently carrying out seabed mapping for Parks Australia and sea trials for marine equipment.
CSIRO astronomy expert Glen Nagle said the images are a reminder that space is far from empty.
“More than 100 tons of natural space debris enters the Earth’s atmosphere every day,” Nagle said.
“Most of them remain invisible because they occur in an unpopulated area like the Southern Ocean.”
He added: “Many meteors were once asteroids, traveling through space on their own path.
“When they enter our atmosphere, they become meteors – and their entry can be visually spectacular.”
Thousands of space debris – many of which are meteors – are tracked by NASA throughout the year to keep an eye on their trajectories.
Fortunately, most are too small to pose a threat to Earth, and the dangerously large ones shouldn’t be hitting our planet anytime soon.
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