Glowing debris resembling meteors spotted in Italian skies: This is what it is and on video

Dozens of reports are coming in about seeing dozens of bright debris in the sky today, August 27, 2024, around 9:40 p.m., details

Dozens and dozens of reports are coming in from all over Italy about seeing dozens of luminous debris (between red and yellow) in the sky today, August 27, 2024 at around 9.40pm. These light trails were observed for about 10 seconds from west to east. We still don’t know the origin for sure. But we can assume that they are the remains of a human body. (Rocket debris? Decommissioned satellite?) Updates coming, but in the meantime, here’s the video:

Space debris problem

In addition to representing Danger to astronauts In orbit (see “Gravity” and understand where we’re headed), debris can damage a spacecraft. This also happened recently to the James Webb Space Telescope, which was damaged by micrometeorites. primary mirror From the telescope. Fortunately, it is very rare for objects measuring more than a kilometer to pass through Earth’s atmosphere. However, the new study highlights how more and more debris, satellites and rocket parts, are returning to Earth. like space debris.

Well, thanks to cross-reference calculations, scientists were able to discover that there is Small but big risks That all of this debris will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in the next decade. This is more likely to happen at southern latitudes than northern latitudes. The study estimated that rocket fragments are about three times more likely to land in Indonesia, Bangladesh or Nigeria than in New York, Beijing or Moscow. The study’s authors also calculated How many victims could this cause? This debris. Assuming that each reentry disperses debris over an area of ​​10 square meters, there is a 10% chance of one or more casualties on average over the next 10 years. But so far, the possibility of debris from satellites and rockets causing damage to the Earth’s surface has been considered. hardly noticeableBut as the number of commercial launches increases, it is very likely that the number of accidents will increase.

References: ConversationCover image source: European Space Agency