A Highland man has captured the incredible moment a meteor exploded on camera.
Father of five Darren Landles was at home watching TV when he saw a bright flash outside.
Initially thinking it was lightning, he later decided to check a camera he has set up to record the sky.
The 37-year-old Tain resident said: “It is setup to look at the sky day and night as I love bad weather and I’m into astronomy on a very observe and enjoy what I see basis only. I’m in no way an expert.
“I was sitting watching a film in my living room when I saw the sky light up outside. I went to the window had a look and there was no visible storm clouds, so I checked my weather radar and lightning app and there was no lightning between here and Norway so I went to my camera to see if I could see what it was.
“The cameras had shut off at 01:14:15 for like a minute so was gutted thinking I had missed it and what ever it was had interfered with the cameras.”
Luck was on Mr Landles side though as the ‘flash’ had happened at 01.16.40 – when the camera was back in action.
He said he has seen flashes before and spoken to people who have said they have seen a meteor before.
“This is the first time I have caught it,” he added.
“I’m delighted.My wife likes to take the mick out of my skycam but it’s already caught something great. Just wish it had caught the explosion better.”
Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, said: “Meteors are common, and we typically see around six an hour throughout the night. Brighter meteors are less frequent, but still not unusual, and the brightest – so called fireballs – might be sighted a number of times each year.
“Seeing those is largely a matter of luck, and the odds of that go up the more often you look at the night sky.”
He said it will likely still have been tens of kilometres above the surface of the Earth, so “completely harmless”, but the incoming rock will have exploded after being heated dramatically by its passage through our atmosphere.
ONE TO WATCH: Dr Massey added the Perseids meteor shower is due to peak on the night of August 11-12. It’s best from the end of twilight till about midnight, as after that the light from the waning moon will interfere, and casual observers might see a few bright meteors each hour.
