A loud bang was heard across Bristol in the early hours of this morning (March 19) amid reports of a meteor shower over the West Country. A trail of shooting stars was captured on meteor cameras in Bath, London and other parts of the UK.
One person reported hearing a loud bang in Bishopston at around 1am, at the time the meteor was pictured. Thomas Page tweeted: "Did anyone just hear a really loud bang over Bishopston @ 00:52? I have just had a look, and at the time I reported it looks like a shooting star or potential meteor what's caught on several cameras across the UK."
The UK Meteor Network, which has 135 detection cameras recording meteors and fireballs across the country, picked up the meteor shower from midnight until around 5am. It was also detected by MeteorCam on Twitter.
Also read: Mysterious red blocks have been spotted on roads in Bristol city centre
According to NASA: "A meteor is a space rock, or meteoroid, that enters Earth's atmosphere. As the space rock falls toward Earth, the resistance of the air on the rock makes it extremely hot. What we see is a shooting star.
"That bright streak is not actually the rock, but rather the glowing hot air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere. When Earth encounters many meteoroids at once, we call it a meteor shower."
Did you hear a loud bang in Bristol last night, or spotted the meteor? Let me know by emailing: beth.cruse@reachplc.com
Get the best stories about the things you love most curated by us and delivered to your inbox every day. Choose what you love here
