Irish astronomers hunt for meteorite
Astronomers are on the trail of a meteorite after a massive explosion over Ireland.
Saturday, 05 September 2009
The fireball, said to burn as bright as the full moon, was seen flashing across the country on Wednesday night.
Astronomy Ireland said the suspected meteor was spotted from Valentia Island, Skibbereen, west Cork to Cavan and further north in Raphoe, Co Donegal.
Chairman David Moore believes it may have ditched in the Atlantic.
"If it's brighter than the full moon then there's a chance that part of it survived and landed," he said.
Mr Moore said the fireball could have been the size of a football after being seen 100 miles above the Earth leaving a white, green and blue trail and have the force of a nuclear explosion.
A similar fireball was spotted in April and experts believe it landed in the Irish Sea. The last meteor to land was found in Carlow in 1999.
"In the past two decades there have been two major explosions in the skies over Ireland," Mr Moore said.
"When we investigated these we were able to conclude that one was a Russian military satellite that exploded over the country, and the other was a rock from space which we predicted would have fallen on Carlow and this rock was indeed found."
Meanwhile, Astronomy Ireland suggested reports of UFOs over the Dublin mountains on Wednesday night may have been Chinese lanterns.
Hundreds of motorists caused massive delays on roads in the southern outskirts of the city after callers flooded a radio phone-in show.
Mr Moore said the paper lanterns, which are lit by a flame and float low across the sky, were a much more likely explanation.
© Press Association