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Social media was buzzing on Sunday after news that an object emitting a bright light was spotted falling from the skies over Japan in the early hours of the morning.
Photo provided from video footage of a fireball seen in Gifu prefecture in central Japan. (Kyodo)
The fireball, believed to be a fireball – a type of shooting star often compared to a full moon for its brightness – could be seen clearly from parts of western and central Japan.
A man in his twenties living in Gifu prefecture was able to capture the shooting star with the camera as it momentarily lit up the sky around 1:35 am Sunday morning.
“It made a rumble,” wrote one Twitter user, while another said, “The sky has become totally bright.”
Takeshi Inoue, director of the Akashi Municipal Planetarium in Hyogo Prefecture, said that while shooting stars brighter than Venus are generally known as bolides, they are rarely so bright.
“We believe the latest burst of light was as bright as the full moon,” he said.
In July, an equally bright shooting star was observed moving southwest to northeast in the sky above Tokyo. It was later identified as a meteor after the fragments were found in nearby Chiba Prefecture.
The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has said that on average, several fireballs are observed each month, but it is rare for people to feel anything.
Related coverage:
The fireball that lit up the Tokyo sky was confirmed as a meteor after the pieces were found
Fireball that lit up the Tokyo sky probably a small meteor: expert
The shooting star appears to have exploded over Tokyo
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