A bright meteor was spotted streaking across the skies above Canberra and parts of New South Wales on Thursday evening, with several videos of the brief fireball circulating online shortly afterwards.

The fireball was spotted around 6:30pm on Thursday 21 May across Canberra, Queanbeyan, Sydney and and elsewhere in regional NSW.

The meteor was spotted right before kick-off of the Australia Cup qualifier between Queanbeyan City FC and Canberra Croatia FC in Jerrabomberra.

ANU Astrophysicist Brad Tucker said the meteor’s unusual colouring and bright flash gave clues about what was happening as it entered Earth’s atmosphere.

“The greenish colour indicates it was a meteor, usually with iron and nickel,” Tucker told 9 News.

“The bright flash midway means it likely fragmented or broke apart.”

Tucker estimated the meteor was roughly 30 to 50 centimetres in diameter based on its brightness.

“Colours of objects indicate what it is made up of. Space junk is usually more yellow,” he said.

“Meteors are travelling much faster than say satellites or space junk as well and so they cover a larger distance and are in the sky for a shorter time.”

Tucker said larger meteors are seen across Australia reasonably often, but this one happened at an ideal time for people to spot it.

“Early in the evening, so lots of people were still awake and out and about,” he said.

“They can happen in the middle of the night.”