Latest news with #JontiHorner
The Independent
22-04-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Astronomers perplexed by loud bang and green flash over Australian skies
A loud bang and a bright green ball of light seen in the skies above Australia have left astronomers perplexed about the source of the strange phenomenon. The green blob of light appeared in the skies over Queensland Monday night, coinciding with the Lyrids meteor shower as the Earth passed through streams of dust left behind by the comet Thatcher. It is one of the oldest recorded meteor showers in history, observed and reported as early as 687BC, and is widely witnessed every year around this time in April. Live camera feeds and dashcam footage captured a momentary bright green glow in the sky above Brisbane and parts of New South Wales. Some locals also reported hearing a loud boom as they witnessed the green ball of light streak across the sky. Several Australian media outlets reported that the phenomenon is related to the annual Lyrid meteor shower anticipated to peak this week. However, astronomers say the bright fireball could be a different celestial phenomenon unrelated to the meteor shower. 'I can say for certain that the fireball was not part of the Lyrid meteor shower – it was much too early in the evening,' astronomer Jonti Horner from the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) told The Independent. Instead, he suspected the phenomenon was likely caused by space debris, like an asteroid or comet. Curtin University astronomer Ellie Sansom concurred that the bright green flash was likely not from the meteor shower. "It was an amazing bright green fireball, definitely something bigger than what we would be expecting from a meteor shower," Dr Sansom told ABC News. In the southern hemisphere, Lyrid meteors can be seen coming from the north, but the green object was spotted travelling from south to north, she explained. 'Debris in a meteor shower is all moving through space in the same direction, and the meteors that appear from a given shower appear to radiate from a certain point of the night sky,' Dr Horner said. This point in the sky, called the meteor shower's 'radiant', tells a lot about it. For instance, if the radiant is below the horizon, it means the part of the Earth one is standing on is facing away from the incoming comet dust. 'So you can't see meteors from that shower,' Dr Horner said. 'It's a bit like if you're in a rainstorm on a very windy day – if you stand with your back to the rain, it will hit the back of your head, but none will hit your face!' he explained. When the mysterious fireball entered Earth's atmosphere over Queensland on Monday night, the radiant for the Lyrid meteor shower was still well below the horizon. 'So Queensland was facing away from the Lyrid shower, and it is impossible that the fireball was related to the shower,' Dr Horner said. The strange fireball was likely a different shooting star hitting the Earth's atmosphere and burning up. 'The fireball last night was brighter than the full Moon – and came in very fast – most likely at a speed of 30 or 40 kilometres per second,' the UniSQ astronomer said. The space rock was visible at an altitude of about 100km (62 miles) and likely exploded about 30km (18 miles) above the ground, causing the loud bang heard by many Australians, he suspects. 'It was visible for just a few seconds - and was probably a bit too small (and moving a bit too fast) to have dropped any fragments to Earth,' Dr Horner said. While some fragments of the rock may have reached the ground, he suspects they 'would be tiny and hard to spot'. Scientists have called on witnesses to report their sightings to the International Meteor Organisation to help determine the actual source of the space rock.
Sydney Morning Herald
22-04-2025
- Science
- Sydney Morning Herald
Forty kilometres a second: Fireball lights up the sky over Brisbane
It lit up the night sky across south-east Queensland and northern NSW overnight, yet the meteor that caused Monday night's fireball was probably just the size of your fist. The sky lit up about 7.30pm, as the meteor tore through the atmosphere at an estimated 40 kilometres a second. University of Southern Queensland astronomer Professor Jonti Horner said while the fireball coincided with the Lyrid meteor shower, it definitely was not part of the annual cosmic occurrence. How could Horner be so sure? Simply because Australia was facing in the wrong direction to experience the Lyrid shower at the time. 'The dust from those two meteor showers [Lyrid and Halley's Comet-associated Eta Aquariids] was hitting the other side of the planet and wouldn't have been able to reach us,' he said. Meteor hunters shared dashcam and security camera footage to social media, appearing to show a meteor visible from as far north as Calliope, near Gladstone, and as far south as Sydney. Some deduced it would have fallen to earth near Emmaville – south of the southern Queensland town of Stanthorpe and north of Tenterfield in NSW. One person posted that Emmaville was 'abuzz' on Tuesday with people looking for fragments.
The Age
22-04-2025
- Science
- The Age
Forty kilometres a second: Fireball lights up the sky over Brisbane
It lit up the night sky across south-east Queensland and northern NSW overnight, yet the meteor that caused Monday night's fireball was probably just the size of your fist. The sky lit up about 7.30pm, as the meteor tore through the atmosphere at an estimated 40 kilometres a second. University of Southern Queensland astronomer Professor Jonti Horner said while the fireball coincided with the Lyrid meteor shower, it definitely was not part of the annual cosmic occurrence. How could Horner be so sure? Simply because Australia was facing in the wrong direction to experience the Lyrid shower at the time. 'The dust from those two meteor showers [Lyrid and Halley's Comet-associated Eta Aquariids] was hitting the other side of the planet and wouldn't have been able to reach us,' he said. Meteor hunters shared dashcam and security camera footage to social media, appearing to show a meteor visible from as far north as Calliope, near Gladstone, and as far south as Sydney. Some deduced it would have fallen to earth near Emmaville – south of the southern Queensland town of Stanthorpe and north of Tenterfield in NSW. One person posted that Emmaville was 'abuzz' on Tuesday with people looking for fragments.
ABC News
22-04-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Meteor likely source of fireball in night sky above Australia's east coast says astrophysicist
A bright green ball of fire that caused a sonic boom and lit up the Queensland night sky overnight was most likely a meteor, says an astrophysicist. Experts say it coincided with the University of Southern Queensland astrophysicist Professor Jonti Horner said the event was likely caused by space debris: either a fragment of an asteroid or a comet. He said it was unlikely to be made by humans because of the speed at which it travelled across the night sky. "It looks like it came in too fast, and it detonated high in the atmosphere," Professor Horner said. He said it was unlikely any material from the meteor would have made it to Earth. "[The meteor] looked like it was [travelling around] 40, 50, 60 kilometres a second, and that suggests to me that it was on a more elongated orbit around the sun," Professor Horner said. Professor Jonti Horner said it was unlikely any material from the meteor would have made it to the ground. ( Supplied: USQ ) While the Lyrids meteor shower is now visible, Professor Horner said it was unlikely to be the source of Monday's bright burst of light. He said the Lyrids would not have been visible in Australia at the time the meteor event was seen. Witnesses along the east coast Truck driver Mick Davey said he saw the event while travelling between Moree and the Queensland border town of Goondiwindi. "It was just like a bright ball falling through the sky, then all of a sudden, there was a sonic boom," Mr Davey said. "Then the bright ball broke up into pieces." Photo shows A white streak across a city scape. From Victoria to the Philippines, reports of fireballs seemingly pop up every few weeks. Are they becoming more frequent or are we just better at catching them? He said when he heard the sonic boom hit, the sky lit up like it was daylight. "I'm driving in a truck with all the windows up, the radio playing, and all the rest of it, and I still heard it above all that, so that's how loud it was." Further south, Jeevan Sam was driving from Jervis Bay to Sydney when he saw a "big ball of fire" light up the night sky. "The colour was almost like a bluish green," he said. "The whole sky was lit; we were wondering what was going on." Mr Sam, whose dash cam recorded the phenomenon, said he had never seen anything like it. Space debris Ellie Sansom from the Desert Fireball Network at Curtin University said the size of the event indicated it was likely an asteroid-type object. "It was an amazing bright green fireball, definitely something bigger than what we would be expecting from a meteor shower," Dr Sansom said. She said the object was unlikely from the Lyrids as the object had been travelling from south to north, and any meteor from the Lyrids would have been coming from the north. Dr Sansom said researchers were hoping to determine the origin of the meteor and encouraged witnesses to report any sightings to the International Meteor Organization. "The more witness reports we get, then we might be able to get a better idea of where it came from," she said. ABC Southern Qld — local news in your inbox Get our local newsletter, delivered free each Wednesday Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
