Huge meteor captured on doorbell camera lighting up the sky over Wigan

Meteor caught on camera lighting up the sky over Wigan.

The meteor was spotted just before 10pm on Sunday February 28th, and sent a sonic boom across parts of England. Scientists explain that it is likely to have been a small piece of an asteroid entering the Earth’s atmosphere. 

A woman named Nikki posted a video of the meteor on Twitter, captured on her doorbell camera near her home in Appley Bridge on Sunday.

UKFall said the bright light could be seen all the way from Ireland to the Netherlands and is set to break the record as the most reported ever.

Over 758 reports have been made on the International Meteor Organisation’s website already.

UKFall’s Dr Ashley King, said: “The video recordings tell us its speed was about 30,000 miles per hour, which is too fast for it to be human-made ‘space junk’, so it’s not an old rocket or satellite.

“The videos also allowed us to reconstruct its original orbit around the sun. In this case, the orbit was like an asteroid’s.

“This particular piece of asteroid spent most of its orbit between Mars and Jupiter, though sometimes got closer to the Sun than Earth is.”

UKFall also said that it is likely ‘a few fragments’ reached the ground as the meteor fragmented in the atmosphere.

Dr Katherine Joy of the University of Manchester said: “If you do find a meteorite on the ground, ideally photograph it in place, note the location using your phone GPS, don’t touch it with a magnet, and, if you can, avoid touching it with your hands.”

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