Meteor captured hurtling through the atmosphere towards earth as it burns up

This is the incredible moment a massive fireball was spotted hurtling through the atmosphere towards Earth.

Amateur stargazer Drew Buckley captured the breath-taking sight of a meteor blasting through the stratosphere before burning up.

Drew set up his camera at Carew Castle, in Pembrokeshire, to take pictures of star trails – beautiful circular portraits that track the movement of stars across the night sky – when he accidentally photographed the trail of the flaming meteor.

This star trail photograph was created by 'stacking' dozens of seperate exposures including the one frame with the burning fireball — This star trail photograph was created by ‘stacking’ dozens of seperate exposures including the one frame with the burning fireball

This second image shows teh burning fireball leaving a trail across the picture, without the lines of star trails

He said: “A few minutes into the sequence I struck gold by capturing a massive fireball directly in my field of view – lucky isn’t the word!

“However, I had to wait to the end of my hour long session to see if I had caught it.

“It was quite slow moving burning bright greens and oranges as it travelled over the countryside, breaking into pieces was quite a surreal sight to witness.”