[meteorite-list] Space Junk Lights Up Skies Over Australia

Solvænget lbp at privat.tdcadsl.dk
Fri Aug 27 08:38:53 EDT 2004


Hi Jeff

I asume the "explotions" were from the object going from supersonic to
subsonic.

Best wishes
Lars Pedersen


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff Kuyken" <jeff at meteoritesaustralia.com>
To: "Meteorite List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 10:56 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Space Junk Lights Up Skies Over Australia


> G'day List,
>
> I read this story and the following line struck me as odd.
>
> "calls reporting an extremely bright light and two explosions..."
>
> I would not have thought that space junk would explode. Is this a correct
> assumption? Hopefully one of our knowledgeable list members can add
> something to this.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff Kuyken
> I.M.C.A. #3085
> www.meteorites.com.au
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Ron Baalke
>   To: Meteorite Mailing List
>   Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 3:00 AM
>   Subject: [meteorite-list] Space Junk Lights Up Skies Over Australia
>
>
>
>
>
>
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/26/1093456733056.html?oneclick=tru
> e
>
>   Space junk lights up skies
>   The Age (Australia)
>   August 26, 2004
>
>   It may have caused a stir on earth, but a bright light over
>   south-western NSW last night was not a meteor, an astronomer said today.
>
>   Police stations from Mount Druitt to Goulburn received dozens of phone
>   calls reporting an extremely bright light and two explosions about
>   11.30pm (AEST) yesterday.
>
>   Goulburn police sergeant Joe Fitzpatrick was on patrol in his police car
>   when he saw an intense light in the sky to the north-west.
>
>   "It was a bluey-green colour ... certainly bright enough to attract the
>   attention of all those around me," Sgt Fitzpatrick said.
>
>   The moving light brightened for several seconds and then burned out, he
>   said.
>
>   "When I first saw it I thought it was a firework or a flare. I'd compare
>   it to the PolAir helicopter turning its light on," he said.
>
>   The light was most likely caused by nothing more than space junk burning
>   up, said astronomer Vince Ford, from Canberra's Mount Stromlo
Observatory.
>
>   "Sounds like a bit of space junk, a piece of old rocket casing or a fuel
>   cell," Mr Ford said.
>
>   "My best guess: a small bit of aluminium rocket casing, causing an
>   extremely bright blue-green light as it burned (out)."
>
>   He said the metal was unlikely to have made a sound entering the
>   atmosphere 30km above Earth.
>
>   With tens of thousands of pieces of discarded shuttle materials
>   congesting earth's atmosphere such sightings were becoming more
>   frequent, Mr Ford said.
>
>   "What many people believe to be shooting stars are actually stray nuts
>   and bolts burning up on re-entry," he said.
>
>   Although up to 10 meteors were visible in an hour in a dark sky,
>   spotting a piece of space junk as large as last night's sighting was
>   still reasonably rare, he said.
>
>
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