'Daytime fireball' meteor spotted near Tokyo, central Japan

International

17-01-2024, 10:24

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INA- SOURCES

People in Japan's Kanto region reported seeing an exceptionally bright meteor on Monday morning.

Fujii Daichi is a curator who specializes in astronomy at the Hiratsuka City Museum in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo. He says cameras installed at his home in Hiratsuka and neighboring Shizuoka Prefecture captured the phenomenon known as a fireball shortly before 7 a.m.

The footage shows a sphere of light emerging in the dawn sky and traveling for a few seconds before it vanishes.

Fujii says the light appears to have traveled toward Nagano Prefecture, north of Shizuoka, from above Kanagawa.

Eyewitnesses, mainly from the Kanto region, said on social media that they heard a blasting sound.

Fujii says he was surprised to see a bright fireball in the daylight hours. He says the strong brightness indicates the meteor have been dozens of centimeters in diameter, which is rare.

Fujii adds that reports of a shockwave also suggest that the meteor may have hit the ground.

SOURCE :NHK