What was that bright light streaking across the sky last night?
Posted March 17, 2015 10:31 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A streaking ball of light lit up the night sky yesterday.
Many people took to Twitter and reddit to report the sighting.
It was a meteor, according to astronomer Derek Kief with the HR MacMillan Space Centre, who says while shooting stars are common, it’s rare to see one streak for as long or as brightly as this one, with the space rock needing a number of specific attributes.
“One of the major ones is size; the bigger they are, generally speaking, the further down they’ll make it. It has to do with the speed that they’re going through our atmosphere. Speed and size are the two major components. There also is a component of the material that they’re made out of.”
This meteor was most visible over Loch Ness in Scotland, but many in the Lower Mainland and northwestern Washington State were also able to spot it.
