In California, mysterious lights flashed across the sky Friday night (local time). Countless residents of the capital, Sacramento, marveled at the overhead spectacle, filmed the light phenomena and wondered what it was: meteors? satellites? falling stars?
An astronomer quickly gives the answer, which is surprisingly accurate. It’s space debris that burned up as it re-entered the atmosphere, said Jonathan McDowell, who teaches at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
More specifically, the fireballs were part of a Japan Space Agency communications system that allowed data to be sent from the International Space Station (ISS) to the control center in the city of Tsukuba.
Launched into orbit in 2020
In 2009, the ICS-EF module, which weighed no less than 310 kilograms, was brought to the ISS with a space shuttle. By early 2020, the antenna package had reached its target and was launched into orbit by a robotic arm.
As with any piece of space debris larger than two inches, the object’s trajectory was tracked for years until it re-entered the atmosphere Friday night over Northern California, creating a glowing spectacle over Sacramento.
“Almost Completely Burnt”
“It was probably almost completely burned upon entry,” astronomer McDowell wrote on Twitter. Smaller debris may have ended up in Yosemite National Park, about 125 miles southeast of Sacramento
Source: Krone
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