14 June 2019

Bright meteor falling through Canberra skies captured on dashcam

| Glynis Quinlan
Join the conversation
8

A still from the dashcam footage taken by Germaine Muller last night.

A small bright meteor lit up the skies over Canberra last night and has been captured on dashcam footage by a driver on the Tuggeranong Parkway.

Mount Stromlo Observatory has confirmed that the blaze of light was a bright but relatively small meteor and would have been in the order of 20 to 50 centimetres in size when it entered the earth’s atmosphere.

For Germaine Muller travelling south along the Tuggeranong Parkway at 10:37 pm last night (June 13) the falling meteor was quite a surprise – but a “really cool” one.

“I was listening to a podcast and out of nowhere I just see this thing,” recalled Germaine.

“I thought it was a flare. I didn’t see the first half of the trail.”

It was only when he arrived home and checked his dashcam footage that Germaine realised what it could be. His dashcam is mounted directly on his windscreen and pointed upwards, meaning it captured much more than what he saw.

“I think I ended up getting the whole thing.”

Below is Germaine’s video of the meteor, which is shared from Facebook (Canberra Notice Board Group).

Germaine from Futuretheory has just set up a new shared working space in Fyshwick and is hoping the meteor sighting is a good sign for the future.

“Aren’t these supposed to be good luck?” he recalls thinking to himself last night.

“Maybe it’s a sign from the universe that I’m heading in the right direction.”

A number of other Canberra drivers have also taken to social media to say they saw the meteor last night, although some have wondered if it was just space junk.

Mount Stromlo Observatory has clarified that it is the real thing and shared photos of what the meteor looks like up close.

A close up of the meteor captured by Mount Stromlo Observatory (Facebook).

“The blue-green colour is iron melting in the atmosphere,” the observatory said.

It’s obviously far from the first meteor to fall in Canberra, with Germaine saying his partner had just recently shown him a video of an earlier meteor in our skies.

He never expected to see one himself so soon afterwards.

“What are the chances,” he said.

“She thought it was really cool.”

Did you see the meteor last night? If you managed to capture any footage, share it with us below.

Join the conversation

8
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.