Meteor in Melbourne: Marble-sized object lights up Victorian sky

Incredible footage has captured the moment an impressive meteor lit up the skies across Victoria. SEE THE FOOTAGE.

A meteor lit up skies across Victoria on Sunday night, giving captivated onlookers a quick glimpse of the lightshow.

The flaming rock travelled at speeds of 40-70 km per second and came from at least 50kms high.

Videos and eyewitness accounts pinpointed the marble-sized meteor to have occurred around 10.41pm and lasted around two to three seconds.

There were sightings across Victoria in areas including Korumburra, Corinella, Geelong, Kinglake and Bendigo.

Korumburra resident Josh O’Neil spotted the meteor from his couch.

“At first it seemed like a flash of lightning,” he said.

“It sort of lingered so I got up and looked outside.”

Mr O’Neil saw the green meteor “explode” into the sky.

“I expected there to be a ‘bang’ but I didn’t hear anything,” he said.

Mr O’Neil rang his mum Tracey Mitchell who ended up capturing the lightshow on her CCTV footage from her truck yard in Korumburra.

“It was pretty amazing,” she said.

Tracey Mitchell captured the meteor on CCTV footage from her truck yard in Korumburra.

Astronomical Society of Victoria’s Vice President Perry Vlahos said the meteor entered the atmosphere in the middle of the sky.

“It very quickly continued south, ending from the left of the Southern Cross,” he said.

Mr Vlahos said the meteor was much brighter than any of the stars.

“It completed its journey with a bright double slash at the end which lit up the sky,” he said

In some instances, the meteor also lit up the ground.

Other Victorians took to social media, describing the fireball as “unreal” and “impressive”.

Corinella resident Mick Conby said he had “never seen anything like it”.

“I saw it light the sky up as it went down,” he said.

“It had a blue glow to it with a massive orange tail.”

Mr Vlahos said a meteor usually begins by “collisions in the solar system”.

“It’s when a couple of bodies cling together and little bit of rumble is created which continues to orbit around the solar system,” he said.

“Eventually they intersect the earth’s orbit at exactly the same time the earth is entering the atmosphere and burning up.”

Meteors can happen at any time of the year while some showers happen at the same time every year.

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Originally published as Meteor in Melbourne: Marble-sized object lights up Victorian sky