Meteor lights up the sky over Sydney, seen in Canberra and across NSW

A meteor has lit up the sky over Sydney and was seen from hundreds of miles away this evening.

The bright flash occurred around 6.30pm and was seen by many in Sydney, Canberra and elsewhere in regional NSW.

Astrophysicist Dr. Brad Tucker said the sighting was confirmed as a meteor.

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“It was seen in Canberra and central NSW,” said Dr. Tucker to nine.com.au.

“The greenish color indicates it was a meteor, mostly containing iron and nickel.

“The bright flash halfway through means it’s probably fragmented or disintegrated.

“It can be 30 to 50 centimeters in size depending on the brightness.”

Tucker, an associate professor at the Australian National University, said the way a meteor was confirmed was by assessing its color and speed.

“The colors of objects indicate what they are made of. Space debris tends to be more yellow,” he said.

“Meteors travel much faster than, say, satellites or space junk, so they travel a greater distance and are in the air for a shorter time.”

Tucker said it was not unheard of for a meteor to be seen, with “larger meteors like this maybe every month or so across Australia”. The lucky thing about tonight was that it “happened at a good time.”

“Early in the evening there were a lot of people still awake and on the road,” he said.

“They can happen in the middle of the night.”

One person told nine.com.au they were blown away by the brightness of the flash they saw from Waterloo.

“I saw a flash of light in the sky and was so confused that at first I thought it was a flare that had been lit,” she said.

“Then I saw this glowing orange ball falling from the sky. I had never seen anything like it before.

“The whole sky was lit up for ten seconds.”