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‘Meteor’ spotted over UK last night as hundreds report sightings of fireballs in sky | UK News



Hundreds of meteor sightings were reported across the UK last night, with some describing it as a “bright green” fireball in the sky.

The UK Meteor Observatory Network (UKMON) confirmed to Sky News that there was a meteor fireball event at around 9:44 a.m. on May 16.

The Network of Amateur Astronomers confirmed they received more than 700 public reports of the event.

The UK’s Fireball union also confirmed the reports on Twitter, adding that it had received close to 100 reports but said its cameras failed to capture the scene.

Dr Ashley King from the UK Fireball Alliance said: “A bright ball of fire was widely seen and recorded across the UK last night at 21:44 (BST).

“It moved south to north through the Dorset/Somerset area and lasted about 6 seconds.

“Most likely it was created by a rock from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that entered Earth’s atmosphere but ‘passed into the dark’ at about 40 km, so we I don’t expect any meteors on the ground.”

There have also been reports of sightings in London, Birmingham, Cambridgeshire, West Berkshire and Bedfordshire.

One Twitter user posted footage captured by their doorbell camera.

Another user said: “Seen it here in Manchester, green/white, looking southwest towards the horizon.”

One person described it as “bright green, slowly falling and breaking apart”, adding that it was “awesome”.

William Gater, an astronomer and author, said it was “another meteor”, an exceptionally bright meteor.

What are meteors and why do we see them?

According to NASA, a meteor is a space rock, also known as a meteor, that enters Earth’s atmosphere.

Meteorites are created when a comet comes close to the sun and breaks apart due to heat.

They are sometimes seen as the Earth orbits the Sun and passes through debris left over from disintegrating comets.

As the space rock falls towards Earth, the drag of the air causes it to become extremely hot, making it look like a “shooting star”.

The streak of light was not the rock itself, but the blazing hot air.

Usually, meteorites are very small, sometimes no larger than a rock, and burn up in the atmosphere.

Meteor showers occur when several space rocks enter Earth’s atmosphere at the same time.

This is the latest of several meteor sightings in England and Wales this year.

Read more from Sky News:
Mars’ ‘doorway’ spawns conspiracy theories – here’s what you’re really watching

On May 12, hundreds of people said on social media that they saw a “bright green” fireball.

It has been seen in Southampton, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Devon and Somerset.

Tania de Sales Marques, astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich told Sky News there is an active meteor shower at the moment, associated with Halley’s comet and will last until the 28th. May.



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