Fireball sightings sought after Cork sky lit up on Thursday night

A fireball was spotted in Cork skies on Thursday night, with a number of calls made to Astronomy Ireland about the rare sighting.

A fireball is a meteor that glows as it makes its way through the atmosphere towards Earth. The friction from the layer of gases surrounding the planet burns up the meteor, making it substantially smaller by the time it reaches Earth.

Speaking to The Echo Editor of Astronomy Ireland David Moore encouraged people to report their sightings to the organisation, which is the most popular astronomy club in the world.

“If you saw the fireball, report it by emailing magazine@astronomy.ie. Tell us where you were when you saw it and what direction the light went in (east/west/etc).” 

Mr Moore said that the fireball occurred around 9.30pm on Thursday night, with further sightings around midnight of a possible second event.

The astronomy expert said that the end goal was to find meteorite matter which is very rare and very valuable.

“Meteor rubble can be sold for 50 times the price of Gold,” Mr Moore said.

The organisation gathers reports of sightings in order to garner information on where the fireball may have landed.

“The chance that it would have landed in Ireland is very rare. The last time meteor rock was found in Ireland was in 1999.” 

Mr Moore said people always seem to think the phenomenon is closer than it actually is.

“You would have people saying it was only a mile down the road, but it is actually higher and further than you would think. Fireballs can be seen from 1000s of miles away.” 

If you have information on Thursday night’s sighting, you can email magazine@astronomy.ie.