A Chinese satellite reentered Earth's atmosphere over the southeastern United States, creating a fiery spectacle that was initially mistaken for the Ursid meteor shower.
A fiery spectacle observed over the southeastern United States on Saturday night puzzled many, who initially mistook it for the annual Ursid meteor shower . Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics confirmed on X that the phenomenon was the uncontrolled reentry of a Chinese satellite, GaoJing 1-02.
Social media platforms were flooded with posts showcasing the burning objects in the sky, originating from states like Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. Users expressed confusion over the unidentified event. As human space exploration intensifies and more satellites are launched, such reentries are becoming increasingly common. In November, observers witnessed a SpaceX satellite blaze through Earth's atmosphere over Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. The American Meteor Society received 120 reports of a 'fireball' in the sky over several southeastern states on Saturday night. McDowell stated that the GaoJing 1-02 satellite, a commercial imaging spacecraft operated by Beijing-based Space View, reentered Earth's atmosphere at 10:08 p.m. CST above New Orleans before traveling north over Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri. He clarified that the satellite had been inactive since January 2023 and its reentry was uncontrolled, although its descent was predicted within a two-hour window. The Ursid meteor shower, occurring annually from December 17 to 26, peaked on the night of December 21-22, coinciding with the satellite reentry. This meteor shower is caused by Earth passing through debris left behind by Comet 8P/Tuttle, discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1790 and later linked to Horace Tuttle's 1858 observations. The comet sheds particles that burn up in Earth's atmosphere, creating meteors
SPACE EXPLORATION SATELLITE METEOR SHOWER REENTRY CHINA
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