Meteor south east Queensland Saturday night Craig Turton photographer Taurid Swarm lit up sky

Incredible photo shows a meteor streaking through the night sky before it cannoned into the earth

  • Sky gazers were left in awe on Saturday night when a meteor lit up the sky 
  • Photographer Craig Turton managed to capture the moment on his camera
  • The bright white light was spotted flying through the sky in Queensland 

A photographer has captured the incredible moment that a meteor streaked through the sky before crashing down.

The bright white light was spotted over North Pine Dam in south east Queensland on Saturday night.

Thousands of locals were lucky enough to spot or hear the meteor, which hit Earth just after 10pm. 

Photographer Craig Turton managed to capture the moment while he was fiddling around with his camera outside. 

Photographer Craig Turton managed to capture the moment while he was fiddling around with his camera outside

‘I saw it come right down in the sky, so I just hoped while the exposure was going that I actually captured it,’ he said. 

‘I got the bottom two-thirds of the meteor in the picture… it was the right place, right time.’ 

Social media lit up with people having seen the flash, or felt their homes rumble or shake from its impact, particularly north and west of Brisbane. 

The meteor may be due to Earth’s current proximity to the ‘Taurid Swarm’ in outer space.  

Earth moves close to it twice a year, and increased meteor activity is often reported in June/July and October.

The Taurid Swarm is a cloud of debris that is believed to be leftover from a comet that is thought to have been responsible for cataclysmic collisions in the past, such as the notorious Tunguska event in Russia.

More than 2000 square kilometres of Siberian forest was flattened by a suspected meteor during that incident in June 1908. 

Earth is currently the closest it has been to the swarm since 1975 and astronomers are taking full advantage of the proximity to study the debris for potential risks in the future.  



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