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© UnknownA meteor is seen in the sky above Spain last year
An appeal has been launched for help in locating a meteorite after a fireball was seen blazing across Irish skies last week.

An appeal has been launched for help in locating a meteorite that fell on Ireland.

Astronomy Ireland says it has received reports from around the country of a fireball seen blazing across the sky last week. The fireball was caused as fragments of a comet entered the Earth's atmosphere over Ireland on the night of Monday 22 August.

While most meteors are around the size of a grain of sand - fireballs such as the one seen last week are caused by larger objects hitting the Earth's atmosphere at speeds of around 100,000mph.

It is thought pieces of the meteorite may have survived the fall to the ground and landed in the west.

"According to our preliminary analysis, any meteorite that dropped most likely fell on Sligo or the surrounding counties," said Astronomy Ireland Chairman David Moore.

In order to get a more accurate location, Astronomy Ireland is now appealing for eyewitness reports and CCTV images from the region that may provide further clues.

The last similar incident in Ireland occurred in 1999 - Astronomy Ireland says fragments of that fireball were found and subsequently sold for a price 50 times greater than gold.

Reports of sightings can be logged here Astronomy.ie/fireball.

Photographs and footage can be sent to yourphotos@rte.ie