Near-Earth objects and close calls

Costa Ricans Witness Meteor-Like Flash in Early Morning Sky

A flash surprised hundreds of Costa Ricans who were awake early Monday morning: a strange figure, similar to a meteorite when it burns as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, illuminated the sky between 1:45 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. on February 12.

What a weird choice of words in this article. Below is a video of the event:
 

Costa Ricans Witness Meteor-Like Flash in Early Morning Sky



What a weird choice of words in this article. Below is a video of the event:
Judging by it speed and debris trail, I think it may be a satellite reentering earth atmosphere.
 
Judging by it speed and debris trail, I think it may be a satellite reentering earth atmosphere.
Yes, I checked and this one correlates with a rocket re-entry. The Tico Times updated its reporting on it to suggest that the rocket body in question was NORAD-designated object 53358, a Cháng Zhēng rocket launched in 2022. This nifty tracking website lists object 53358 as having a 'decay date' of 12 February 2024, the same date the 'disintegrating fireball' was observed all over Costa Rica. Here's footage of the re-entry:

 
Here's another one (from 8 February 2024) that looks like it's probably re-entering 'space junk', i.e. a defunct, decaying satellite, or a rocket that previously launched a satellite into orbit:


'Object K' is the generic name for many Chinese rockets though, and none are recently listed or reported as having 'decayed', so... this one could actually be a slow-moving meteor.
 
A bright fireball streamed this morning! This is a view of the fireball at 3:10:06 on February 18, 2024, as captured by a camera pointed north from Fuji. It brightened at the end and lit up the sky like lightning. It was a scattered meteor.
 
Bright meteor captured over Puerto Rico early Tuesday morning, March 5 at about 3:40 am. This was a sporadic meteor, according to the Caribbean Astronomical Society.

📹: Caribbean Astronomical Society
 
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