© Leoni williamsResidents in Tasmania's south captured the fast flash of light on camera.
They were waiting for the
Aurora Australis, but amateur photographers were left guessing
after seeing a bright green flash light up the Tasmanian sky.Amateur photographer Leoni Williams captured a shot of the green streak about 9:30pm on Thursday by "accident".
Overlooking Pipe Clay Lagoon, toward Clifton Beach in southern Tasmania, Ms Williams had her camera facing south in anticipation of an Aurora.
"I was very lucky to capture this bright green object before it disappeared over the horizon," Ms Williams said.
"I'm still not sure what it was. I didn't actually see it with the naked eye as I wasn't watching. I had just set the camera on 30 seconds and pushed the shutter and turned back to my phone.
"I would imagine it was pretty quick. I nearly missed it because it was at the end of the exposure."
Photo sparked social media debateMs Williams took to social media to try and find out what she'd captured on camera.
Opinions varied, with some thinking it was a shooting star, a fallen satellite or even a UFO.
Spotted from the Huon Valley to Dodges Ferry, other photos began popping up on social media.
Eventually, it was shared on social media page Australian Meteor Reports.
"It's definitely a meteor," page administrator David Finlay said.
"That flash that's been captured is a very, very bright meteor - it's what we'd call a 'fireball'. It probably lit up the countryside."
Mr Finlay - a former industrial chemist who has been studying astronomy from an very early age - said the flash was created by a "small rock from space, blazing through the atmosphere, creating friction with the atmosphere".
"It glows and ionises gas - that's what you see as this fireball blazing through the sky.
"If it actually survives atmospheric entry and lands as a rock on land, that's what we call a meteorite - only if it makes it to the ground."
Comment: Last week another streaking fireball, believed to be meteorite, was spotted over Gadsden County, Florida.