Meteor boom shakes Raglan

The meteor was seen were seen from Nelson to Auckland. File photo / Supplied

A meteor's million-year journey through the solar system ended in the skies above New Zealand, casting a bright blue light and creating a sonic boom that was heard in Raglan.

The lights caused by the meteor's entry into the earth's atmosphere about 11pm on Monday lasted up to 30 seconds, and were seen from Nelson to Auckland.

Carter Observatory programmes officer John Field said: "It could be anything from 15cm to maybe a metre in size. It's hard to tell exactly unless you know when it detonated.

"It certainly seems that detonation was low in the atmosphere."

Stardome Observatory astronomer Grant Christie estimated that the fireball travelled 30km to 80km above land, before reportedly splitting into three pieces out at sea.

A witness near Motueka described on the Weatherwatch website seeing a "bright blueish white ball that looked nearly half the size of the full moon with a flaring yellow to orange tail".

A resident in Raglan described the meteor breaking the sound barrier, which woke up his dogs and was "very scary".

Dr Christie said the sound could have been a sonic boom, or a terminal explosion as the meteor blew apart.

It is likely that any debris will have fallen into the ocean.

Scientists would be eager to recover fragments but the chance of recovery is slim - only nine have been recovered in this country.

Meteor entries are common and observed in New Zealand about every three years but cloudy weather or an arrival in daylight can mean they are missed.