WA: Fireball captivates night sky watchers

AAP General News (Australia)
04-20-2001
WA: Fireball captivates night sky watchers

PERTH, April 20 AAP - A bright flash in the sky captivated scores of people across
Western Australia last night, who witnessed what may have been dust shed by a comet thousands
of years ago.

Perth Observatory astronomer Jamie Biggs said the event was seen as far north as Dandaragan,
170 kilometres north of Perth, and as far south as Albany, 410 kilometres south of Perth.

Dr Biggs said the specific incident was what's called a fireball - a bright shooting star.

"We're not sure, but there is a meteor stream that the earth has just started passing
through last night, and this is the dust and junk that has been shed by a comet, possibly
thousands of years ago," Dr Biggs said.

"We're ploughing through what's left of its orbit, and so we get hit by all this dust
so we get an increase in meteor activity and it looks like it's from one point in the
sky.

"This object may have been one of those but it's hard to know.

"It was a lot brighter than what these things normally are."

About 100 people rang the Perth Observatory to report the event.

AAP sd/ns

KEYWORD: FIREBALL

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