On November 18, 2020, the CSIRO research vessel RV Investigator documented a brilliant meteor streaking across the sky over the Southern Ocean, just 120 km south of Tasmania, Australia. The footage captures a vivid flash illuminating the night.
The RV Investigator, operated by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), was conducting a seabed mapping mission equipped with a continuous live camera. At 9:30 p.m., it fortuitously recorded the meteor's descent near Hobart, Tasmania's capital. Captain John Hooper described the event as an extraordinary piece of luck, noting the meteor's impressive size and luminosity.
CSIRO astronomer Glen Nagle highlighted the excitement of such sightings, reminding us that space is dynamic. Every day, about 100 tons of cosmic debris enters Earth's atmosphere, much of it unseen over remote areas like the Southern Ocean. High-speed entry causes friction, igniting meteors—often former asteroids pulled in by Earth's gravity.
Earlier, in late September 2020, another meteor skimmed Earth's atmosphere over Germany and the Netherlands at 91 km altitude, per the Global Meteor Network. Traveling at 34.1 km/s—faster than Earth's 11.2 km/s escape velocity—it bounced back into space without fully burning up due to its shallow angle.
CSIRO footage, shared via the India Meteor Observation Network, offers a glimpse into these celestial events.
