A LOCAL stargazer witnessed an “incredible twilight fireball” in Swan Hill earlier this month.
Michael Mattiazzo saw the fireball in the sky when he arrived home from work on November 6 at approximately 8pm.
“I’m a regular star gazer and have seen many in my time but this one was very special, just after sunset and it was the first time I’ve heard a sonic boom,” Mr Mattiazzo told The Guardian.
“It was extremely bright and I could see it breaking into multiple pieces.”
Mr Mattiazzo said the “sonic boom” occurred about three minutes after the fireball disintegrated, indicating it had an altitude of at least 50 kilometres.
“It sounded like thunder rumbling and a lot of neighbourhood dogs were barking madly at the sound,” he said.
Mr Mattiazzo, who does stargazing as a hobby, said the fireball magnitude was at least -8 and multiple outbursts were observed before disintegrating.
He said the fireball was travelling in an east to west direction towards the towns Ouyen and Pinaroo in South Australia.
“The vapour trail lasted about 25 minutes,” Mr Mattiazzo said.
“Some meteor fragments may be picked up by a farmer out west in the Mallee.”
The photos were shot using a Canon 60D camera with a 50 millimetre lens and wide angle.
A meteor shower is expected to be seen in the Swan Hill region in the middle of December this year.
