A spectacular fireball meteor shining “brighter than the moon” seen plummeting to Earth has been captured by a beach camera in Devon.
The fireball, an especially bright meteor was spotted from Nottingham to Guernsey, and as far away as north-west France, with over 50 members of the public reporting the sighting.
Witness Carl Maynard explained: “I saw this from Chertsey in Surrey. I just happened to be looking at Jupiter when I saw the meteor come down. I saw greens and orange in the flames it was pretty awesome.”
A camera on Dawlish beach in south Devon captured the moment the fireball burning up a few seconds after entering the Earth’s atmosphere just before midnight on June 1.
“This particular type is known as a Bolide fireball which means that it is brighter than the moon,” explained the Dawlish Beach camera page.
Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, told the BBC it was “an impressive sight”.
“It just shows that a lot of astronomy can be enjoyed without any special equipment at all,” he added.
