Meteor entering the atmosphere insane!!

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The breakup of a SpaceX rocket stage sparks a light show over Seattle. (Cedric Padilla Photo

Was it a meteor? A broken-up satellite? Maybe a UFO? Leave it to an astronomer to identify what caused the light show that was visible over a wide stretch of the Pacific Northwest around 9 p.m. PT tonight.

Jonathan McDowell, an expert satellite-tracker at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, quickly figured out that the meteoric display was actually the breakup of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage, left over from a launch that took place more than three weeks ago.

“The Falcon 9 second stage from the Mar 4 Starlink launch failed to make a deorbit burn and is now re-entering after 22 days in orbit,” McDowell tweeted.

It’s fitting that the re-entry of a rocket stage from a Starlink satellite launch provided a moment of marvelment from Seattle to Portland and beyond. After all, those satellites are manufactured at SpaceX’s facility in Redmond, Wash., and it’s conceivable that members of the Starlink team caught the show.

Not long after the orbital debris burned up — harmlessly, by all appearances — the internet was burning up with photos and videos of the fireworks show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYmUoZhfhSI

That's awesome. I've never seen debris like that. I've seen a few very cool shooting stars.

I don't like to think about all the junk up there, and it's nice to see some fall and put on a show.

I love to hear the excitement of the boy.

Thanks for sharing this. :cool: