Very bright fireball streaks across the skies of eastern Tasmania
A very bright fireball was seen over the skies of eastern Tasmania at approximately 11:28 UTC (21:28 LT) on May 10, 2026.
Very bright fireball seen over eastern Tasmania on May 10, 2026. Credit: TessieCams
A very bright fireball streaked across the skies of eastern Tasmania, from Launceston to Arthur’s Lake, at approximately 21:28 LT on Sunday, May 10.
“The object flashed a few times as it was coming down, almost certainly because it was breaking up, and the light sort of came and went and left a bit of a trail,” Martin George, principal astronomer at the Ulverstone Planetarium in Hobart, Tasmania, told RNZ.
Astrophysicist Brittany Trubody said the meteor was “quite likely a remnant from the recent Eta Aquariids meteor shower, produced by debris from Halley’s Comet.”
It was captured by a traffic camera operated by TessieCams in Launceston and was visible across Tasmania, including the southern regions.
“No sonic boom heard. These cameras generally point east,” TessieCams operators said.
Multiple people reported seeing the fireball from different regions.
“Oh man!! THAT was the “lightning flash” I saw on my way to my usual aurora dark sky location south of Burnie!!” commented Dana Scott under TessiCams’ post.
“Saw it in Kingston; it was huge and so bright and so fast. Sadly, I was driving, so I couldn’t get a photo or video,” said another user, Nardia Carr.
The fireball was visible for approximately 4 seconds and glowed white, with some recordings showing a greenish hue toward the end. Fragmentation was also observed during the event.
According to George, while the fireball may have been very bright, it was likely very small and broke apart at an altitude of around 30 km (19 miles).
“That’s the kind of size of object that I would estimate it to be based on the video… Unfortunately, I missed it myself, but it would have been a spectacular sight,” he said.
References:
1 Tasmanians who saw meteor lighting up the sky last night ‘very lucky’, astronomer says – RNZ – May 11, 2026
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
Commenting rules and guidelines
We value the thoughts and opinions of our readers and welcome healthy discussions on our website. In order to maintain a respectful and positive community, we ask that all commenters follow these rules.