Tasmanian astronomer Shevill Mathers on incredible meteor shower

A Tasmanian woman on her drive home has captured dashcam footage of a massive meteor tearing through the skies, leaving her amazed. The state’s space expert has weighed-in on what’s to come. SEE THE VIDEO

A HADSPEN resident on her evening drive home has captured dashcam footage of a massive meteor tearing through the skies, leaving her amazed.

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary volunteer and youth support worker Amy Austin clocked the spacey sight around 6.45pm on Wednesday night and took to social media to share the incredible footage.

Meteorite captured on dashcam during Wednesday night's shower. Picture: Amy Austin

“So excited!! Just driving home and my dashcam got footage of a meteorite or something?! It looked so amazing,” Ms Austin wrote.

But the meteor wasn’t a lone sighting; scores of Tasmanians took to the post sharing their own sightings.

And if you missed it, do not fret. Tasmanian astronomer Shevill Mathers says the shower will be visible for several nights, with the possibility of “50-60 meteors per hour”.

Mr Mathers said the meteors are coming off Halley’s Comet, which will be fully visible to earthlings in 2061.

Shevill Mathers looks to the sky from his home observatory.

“The current shower is known as the mid-year shower and we can expect to see another one in October,” Mr Mathers said.

Mr Mathers, one of the state’s top astronomers, came to Tasmania in 1968 from England.

He says there’s no better place in the country to view “our beautiful dark southern skies”.

He has been a contributor to the Mercury in regards to all things astronomy for over 50 years.