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

From: Solvænget <lbp_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Aug 27 08:38:56 2004
Message-ID: <001401c48c32$d07ad1e0$9f00a8c0_at_star01>

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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Received on Fri 27 Aug 2004 08:38:53 AM PDT