Meteor shower sparks calls to police
07 June 2005
A meteor shower was visible throughout New Zealand last night, prompting calls to police about distress flares.
Inspector Kristy Meates said 10 calls were logged between 7pm and 7.40pm in the central and lower North Island. More calls were reported elsewhere.
Callers claimed to have seen "greeny-blue flares", but distress flares are red. The reaction was similar to that on August 3 last year when people reported seeing fireballs. They were thought to have been from the Perseid meteor shower, associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle.
Carter Observatory's senior astronomer Brian Carter said meteor showers were uncommon in June but not unheard of. They were made up of space matter entering Earth's atmosphere.
Such events were spectacular to watch but held greater significance if people saw meteors landing on the ground - something which happened rarely.
A meteor shower was visible throughout New Zealand last night, prompting calls to police about distress flares.
Inspector Kristy Meates said 10 calls were logged between 7pm and 7.40pm in the central and lower North Island. More calls were reported elsewhere.
Callers claimed to have seen "greeny-blue flares", but distress flares are red. The reaction was similar to that on August 3 last year when people reported seeing fireballs. They were thought to have been from the Perseid meteor shower, associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle.
Carter Observatory's senior astronomer Brian Carter said meteor showers were uncommon in June but not unheard of. They were made up of space matter entering Earth's atmosphere.
Such events were spectacular to watch but held greater significance if people saw meteors landing on the ground - something which happened rarely.
posted by Traveller at 7:35 PM
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