What Was That In Chicago's Sky On Saturday, January 21, 2012?

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January 22, 2012 - Chicago, did you see that thing fall from the sky? At 10:28 PM (CT), I was looking south from the Logan Square area on Chicago's north side. I had just stepped outside and looked up to enjoy the half dozen or so stars that you can see from there, through the orange glow of the city's night sky.

Then I saw it: A very bright object moving at high speed from north to south. Smaller, glowing chunks seemed to fall off and trail behind, dimming rapidly as they did so. Technically, this was a "UFO." That is, it was a flying object and unidentified. It was definitely not a spaceship, however. Perhaps some terrestrial space junk in a pyrrhic homecoming?

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The object I saw was definitely burning, and it reminded me of an acetylene torch being applied to steel.

It might have been a meteor, or "shooting star," I suppose. If so, however, it was like none I've ever seen. After years of driving in the desert of the American Southwest and seeing meteors hundreds of times, I don't recall ever seeing one that looked like the one I saw last night. This was brighter than usual, with a bluish glow.

It suddenly stopped glowing, before it reached the horizon. That's normal for a falling meteor, but I've never seen one over a city before, only in the open desert. The part of Chicago that I was in does not have any tall buildings (nothing over 5 stories), and the tallest structures near me were 2-3 story apartment buildings. I found myself holding my breath, listening for the sound of a crash. The sound never came. But it must have landed somewhere, unless it vaporized. Possible, I suppose, but I had the impression that this thing was low, perhaps only a mile or two high.

So, did you see it too? If you were lucky enough to get a photo, would you share it with us? Share the photo in the comments here, or tell us a link to your photo if you post it online.

German ROSAT Satellite Is Down (With Video)

"On Sunday, 23 October 2011, between 1:45 UTC (3:45 CEST) and 2:15 UTC (4:15 CEST) the german ROentgen SATellite ROSAT has re-entered Earth's atmosphere.

There is currently no confirmation if pieces of debris have reached Earth's surface." [23 October 2011, 02:45 UTC (04:45 CEST)] Watch a simulation, below, of ROSAT's re-entry in the video here, made by Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI). They posted it to their blog site:



According to AGI, "The largest single fragment will probably be the telescope’s mirror, which is very heat-resistant and may weigh up to 1.7 tons.” All areas under ROSAT’s orbit, which extends to 53 degrees northern and southern latitude, might be affected by its reentry. The German-owned and operated satellite was launched by NASA in 1990 and is credited with X-ray images of structures in the Milky Way and other galaxies. Because ROSAT doesn’t have a propulsion system on board, a controlled reentry at the end of its mission in 1999 wasn’t possible." More about ROSAT at AGI Blogs.

German Satellite ROSAT Will Crash Over Weekend (Updated)

October 19, 2011 - Here we go again, and it won't be the last time: Another hunk of space junk will crash back to Earth within the next few days. This weekend, in fact.

The German Aerospace Center DLR says one of their satellites, called ROSAT, is expected to return to our planet's surface in a fiery way sometime betweenOct. 21 and 24. ROSAT was launched in 1990. DLR says that as many as 30 pieces of the satellite will smash through the atmosphere at 280 mph. You can follow the re-entry in progress at the German Aerospace Center's website (English and/und auf Deutsche). 

httpv://youtu.be/yezo3SMoPN8 This should not worry you any more than the recent crash of the much larger Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). That was the NASA bird that came down on September 24, 2011. As then, the exact location of the impact of ROSAT is not yet known.

The odds of being hit by chunks of ROSAT are about the same as with the UARS crash. Remember that UARS was about the size of a schoolbus, whereas ROSAT is more car-like in size. (Video auf Deutsch hier)

Still, there will probably be those who will panic and hide in their basements, fearing the extremely unlikely satellite head injury. Forget about it and just enjoy your weekend.

If you live in Arizona, for example, you're more likely to be abducted by narco-terrorists on Saturday than to be hit by a piece of ROSAT.

Before it breaks up, ROSAT will re-enter the atmosphere at 17,400 mph. Still intact, it weighs 2.69 tons. The doomed satellite will should break up into about 30 individual chunks, says DLR, with a total mass of 1.7 tons, moving at a leisurely speed of approximately 280 mph by the time they hit the planet. Most, however, will actually burn up before they make it all they way down.

DLR says that the biggest fragment of the satellite to make it all the way down is probably the heat resistant mirror of the satellite's telescope.

ROSAT was shut down in 1999. It was primarily used for studying black holes and neutron stars. It also made the first-ever all-sky survey of X-ray sources by using an imaging telescope.

Also See:

German Satellite ROSAT Plunging to Earth This Weekend
Old German satellite hurtles toward Earth
Satellit auf Crash-Kurs: "Rosat" stürzt bald auf die Erde