{"id":17576,"date":"2021-03-26T00:20:48","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T16:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/expert-skywatchers-quickly-solve-pacific-northwests-meteor-mystery\/"},"modified":"2021-03-26T00:20:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T16:20:48","slug":"expert-skywatchers-quickly-solve-pacific-northwests-meteor-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/expert-skywatchers-quickly-solve-pacific-northwests-meteor-mystery\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert skywatchers quickly solve Pacific Northwest\u2019s meteor mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rocket
The breakup of a SpaceX rocket stage sparks a light show over Seattle. (Cedric Padilla Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d McDowell tweeted.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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\u2019s facility in Redmond, Wash., and it\u2019s conceivable that members of the Starlink team caught the show.<\/p>\n

Not long after the orbital debris burned up \u2014 harmlessly, by all appearances \u2014 the internet was burning up with photos and videos of the fireworks show. Here\u2019s a selection of imagery from Twitter and from GeekWire\u2019s friends:<\/p>\n