A "fireball" that turned out to be space debris was spotted over Scotland and Northern Ireland on Wednesday night.
This is reported by The Guardian.
The UK Meteor Network said the "fireball" was visible for 20 seconds just after 10 p.m. on Wednesday. The video shows the object burning in the night sky as it heads northwest.
Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society John McLean said it was probably space debris because the object was moving too slowly to be a meteorite. McLean explained that the "junk" was most likely the Starlink satellite from Muskʼs company SpaceX.
“What weʼre looking at now is a Starlink satellite that actually de-orbited or re-entered the atmosphere today, but itʼs possible that it could have de-orbited a bit earlier. The trajectory of movement was from south to north. He was first noticed when he was coming from the north of England. Presumably, it simply burned up in the atmosphere. But if any of it had landed, it would have fallen in the Atlantic near the Hebrides," McLean noted.
According to the scientist, most meteors enter the atmosphere at a speed of up to 130 thousand kmph. While space debris moves more slowly — at a speed of up to 40 000 kmph. McLean added that Starlink satellites de-orbit fairly regularly because they have a limited lifespan in space. "We expect to have more than 40,000 satellites in orbit over the next few years. "Soon, every fifth object you see in the night sky may be a satellite, which will create big problems for astronomers," the astronomer complained.
At the same time, McLean noted that the Starlink satellites, which are 2.8 meters long, are too small to be dangerous because they burn up in the atmosphere.
- In 2020, the Internet satellites of the Starlink system prevented a clear picture of one of the brightest comets, NEOWISE. A group of satellites "spoiled" the picture of astrophotographer Daniel Lopez.