Caught on cam: Bright meteor lights up skies off B.C. coast

Sky watchers in British Columbia and Washington state caught a dazzling light show Wednesday night when a meteor lit up clear skies off Vancouver Island.

The display awed onlookers at approximately 10:18 p.m., with sightings reported as far east as Creston, B.C., and as far south as Roseburg, Ore., according to the American Meteor Society.

 

 

 

 

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The group documented 143 reported sightings of the meteor and received a handful of photos and videos of the encounter by Thursday morning.

The light show comes amid the annual Orionid meteor shower, when the Earth passes through inbound debris cast off by Halley's Comet each October.

The height of Orionid activity this year is predicted to happen on the morning of Oct. 21, when up to 20 meteors should be visible per hour in rural areas, according to the society.

"Orionid meteors are not visible until after 22:00 [10 p.m.] local daylight saving time as the source of these meteors does not rise above the eastern horizon until then," the society says.

The Victoria-based Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory says Wednesday night's meteor likely broke up over the Olympic mountains south of Victoria.