A meteor shooting across the night sky and shattering with a flare on impact with the Earth’s atmosphere has been recorded by the Norman Lockyer Observatory (NLO) in Sidmouth.

Captured by one of the cameras at the Salcombe Hill facility last month, the video shows the space rock shooting through the sky and a flash off-camera confirmed it breaking up, writes Callum Lawton.

David Jones, who is based at the observatory, said he developed the video after discovering a ‘large detection’ on the radio and optical detectors.

He said: “To be able to get more data and more accurately plot the meteor trajectory, I immediately emailed the other members of UKMON [optical meteor detection network in the UK].”

David also uploaded the video to Twitter and YouTube and within seconds, was swamped with responses in various countries who confirmed their own sighting.

He said: “To have so many visual confirmations in such a short space of time was great for the observatory.

“Whatever we can do to involve and enthuse the general public in this fascinating branch of amateur science is what we are all about at the NLO.

“Our cameras are watching every night from dusk until dawn, ready for the next large meteor to burn up in our atmosphere.”