Residents of Michigan watched a fireball streak the night skies Tuesday night in what many thought was a meteor. Now, it's been revealed that the blazing object was not a space rock but a satellite failing to make it into orbit.
It was Kosmos-2551, a Russian reconnaissance satellite that launched on Sept. 9.
More than 80 reports of the blazing spectacle have been received by the American Meteor Society (AMS), from persons as far south as Tennessee and as far north as Michigan.
The AMS has released dramatic pictures captured by some of these viewers, including a 27-second video from skywatcher Brian Stalsonburg that shows the meteor blazing a trail across the heavens above Comstock Park, Michigan.
The sightings coincided very closely with "the exact predicted time Kosmos-2551 passed over the region," according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell, a leading observer of satellites and other orbiting crafts.
McDowell tweeted that Kosmos-2551's orbit had not been changed once since liftoff, and that the satellite was likely to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
The combustion of the satellite most certainly did not endanger anyone on the ground. It is estimated to be 500 kg [1,100 pounds], and no debris is predicted to reach the earth, according to McDowell in another tweet.
A fireball can be seen in videos from throughout the region moving across the evening sky for over a minute. This is one indication that the burning item was not natural, as meteors are considerably smaller and move faster, allowing them to burn up quickly.
A large satellite, on the other hand, may take longer to disintegrate and encounter greater resistance as it reenters the atmosphere, resulting in a longer burn.
Although the images appear to show the artificial satellite edging closer to the ground as it races toward the horizon, McDowell noted that it was detected at a height of around 40 miles (64 kilometers).
While spectacular, space debris fireballs aren't pretty prevalent. For example, during the launch of a Russian military satellite last year, the re-entering third stage of a Soyuz rocket created a spectacular sky show across parts of Australia.
Such occurrences are growing more regular as humanity continues to deploy satellites into orbit. Many scientists are concerned about the satellite boom, and they believe that action is needed to prevent the space-junk problem from spiraling out of control.
