On the night of Saturday, May 17, skywatchers in parts of the U.S. were treated to a dazzling display of auroras from a surprise geomagnetic storm.
A mysterious white streak cut clean across the night sky, leaving many wondering: what the heck was that?
But the real weirdness started at around 11:30 p.m. MT on May 17, when a bright white streak lit up the sky.
The rocket was shuttling six satellites into orbit, and the white streak may have occurred as the rocket prepared for reentry.
He elaborated that the white streak may have been caused by a fuel dump at an altitude of 155 miles (250 kilometers) as the rocket passed over the Four Corners region.
On Saturday, May 17, skywatchers in various U.S. A. experienced a stunning aurora display as a result of an unexpected geomagnetic storm. Then, however, observers noticed something strange. What in the world was that mysterious white streak that sliced through the night sky?
Bands of green, blue, and red auroras illuminated the skies over Colorado and states further south on Sunday night. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are enormous bubbles of coronal plasma and magnetic field that are ejected from the Sun, and solar flares were the causes of the storm approximately four days prior. Although it was originally predicted that the CME would not reach Earth, a portion of it struck our planet’s magnetic field, causing a geomagnetic storm.
But at about 11:30 p.m., the real strangeness began. M. MT on May 17, as the sky was illuminated by a dazzling white streak. People naturally turned to social media in search of clarification. At first, many onlookers believed it might be an odd variation of STEVE, a distinctive purple-and-green light band that frequently occurs close to auroras. Space weather events are also the cause of STEVE.
The entire event unfolded over the skies of Crestone, Colorado, and photographer Mike Lewinski took long-exposure pictures of it.
“A bright streak of light, resembling a rocket re-entry, appeared high in the sky and flowed down to the horizon while the aurora was rippling low on the northern horizon,” Lewinski told Spaceweather . com. .
The odd incident was actually a recent rocket launch rather than STEVE. According to SpaceDot.com, the enigmatic white streak across the southwestern U.S. appeared about an hour earlier. S. launched its Zhuque-2E methane-powered rocket from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, according to the Chinese company Landscape. Perhaps the white streak happened as the rocket was getting ready for reentry while it was launching six satellites into orbit.
According to astronomer Jonathan McDowell, the strange occurrence on X was probably caused by the rocket’s upper stage crossing over the U. A. He clarified that a fuel dump that occurred at a height of 155 miles (250 kilometers) as the rocket passed over the Four Corners area might have been the source of the white streak.
