Astronomers Question Connection Between Bright Green Fireball Over Australia on Monday Night and Lyrid Meteor Showers

The Lyrid Meteor Showers were at their peak this past Monday night into Tuesday morning, with showers forecast to be quite vivid in the Northern Hemisphere, Europe, and Australia between the peak hours after 10 p.m. local time on Monday, and until approximately 4 a.m. local time, Tuesday.

As skygazers and astronomers prepared for the world’s oldest meteor showers to race across the celestial sky, something else appeared that raised quite a few eyebrows from residents in Australia, lighting up the dark of night several hours before the Lyrid Meteor Showers were slated to peak.

The object, a bright green fireball that could be seen from Brisbane to New South Wales and everywhere in between, was so large and so vivid as it plummeted from the heavens, people stopped in their tracks to record it. What was even more unusual was the ‘loud bang’ the object produced before the luminescent green ball of light streaked across the sky.

Was it part of the Lyrid Meteor Shower? Inquiring minds wanted to know. Some said, yes. Others were unsure of what they witnessed, while many swiftly proclaimed a large meteor had passed through the sky.

For astronomers, though, they question the connection between the bright green fireball and the Lyrid Meteor Shower, and admit they are perplexed as to what would cause a ‘loud bang’ and green flash over Australia’s sky.

Was it a bird? A plane? A meteor? Or Something Else?

As commuters drove home just after 7 p.m. on Monday night, and residents gazed out their windows, the night sky in Australia took on a bright green glow, as viewers watched in amazement.

Dashcam footage and CCTV recorded numerous angles of the ball of light whizzing through the air, many residents reporting they heard a ‘loud bang,’ before the green ball of light streaked across the night sky.

Ask astronomers what they think of the bright green fireball, and many will tell you that it was ‘unrelated’ to the Lyrid Meteor Shower. Three reasons alerted astronomers to the lack of connection between the glowing anomaly in the sky and the

celestial event
. The first, timing. The second, the direction in which the green ball of light appeared. The third, the size of the fireball in comparison to what the Lyrid Meteor Shower would produce.

“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.

The Lyrid Meteor Showers were scheduled to appear from the north for viewers in the Southern Hemisphere. The bright green ball of light jetted across the night sky from south to north, according to Curtin University astronomer Ellie Sansom.

The timing of the bright green object was also off by several hours, appearing over Australia just before 7:30 p.m. local time. The Lyrid

Meteor Showers
were not due to begin peaking until 10 p.m. local time, and were still below the horizon when the glowing green fireball shot across the night sky.

So What Was the Fireball in the Sky? Inquiring Minds Still Want to Know

According to astronomers, the green ball of light was more than likely a shooting star that broke up when it hit the Earth’s atmosphere. The ‘loud bang’ is equated to the massive rock breaking through the atmosphere before turning into a burning ball of green light at a very high rate of speed.

“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.

Astronomers also estimated the ‘space rock’ was visible at approximately 62 miles above the ground, and more than likely exploded, causing that bright green glow to be visible just 18 miles above the ground, before partially disintegrating; indicating that there may have been ‘some fragments’ that reached the ground, but they are more than likely so small, they would be difficult to locate.

However, scientists are still curious as to what the green glowing object may have been and are asking for witnesses who may have captured the event on video to report their sightings to the International Meteor Organization for further investigation.

Whatever the bright green ball of light was, it indeed put on a spectacular show for Australians who were treated to not one, but two celestial events on Monday night.