What we now know about the meteor that lit up the daytime sky above NZ

What we now know about the meteor that lit up the daytime sky above NZ. 12 July 2022. In a piece on The Conversation UC senior lecturer in Astronomy Michele Bannister and University of Otago Associate Professor James Scott explain the unusual characteristics of the meteor that was seen in New Zealand last week.

Read more: What we now know about the meteor that lit up the daytime sky above NZ | University of Canterbury

Meteorites hit New Zealand three or four times a year, but the fireball that shot across the sky above Cook Strait last week was unusual.

It had the explosive power of 1,800 tonnes of TNT and was captured from space by US satellites. It set off a sonic boom heard throughout the southern parts of the North Island.

Witnesses described a “giant bright orange fireball” and a flash that left a “trail of smoke that hung around for a few minutes”.