<p>Partial answer only.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>120 degrees of sky in 5 seconds or so.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>120 degrees in 5 seconds is about 0.42 radians per second. At a distance of 70 km (roughly the distance where an overhead meteor would start to glow visibly) that would be <strong>roughly 29 km/sec</strong>.</p>
<p>That's a nice number for a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#Meteors" rel="nofollow noreferrer">meteor</a>.</p>
<p>But it's quite a challenging number for an originally earth-launched object to achieve during reentry unless it's done some planetary flyby's to change it's orbital energy relative to the Sun.</p>
<p>I know it's been almost 6 years now, but if there's a chance that the apparent rate was a lot less than 0.4 radians per second, it would open up the possibility of a reentering artificial object.</p>
<p>If not, I think it is more likely to be a meteor, though reentry of a deep-space bit of space junk is not impossible.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-19T08:53:43.833Z
2020-09-19T08:53:43.833Z
uhoh
<p>Last night (January 21, 2015, possibly 5:30 UTC), from my house in northern California, I saw a moving point of light in the sky, going west to east, crossing about 120 degrees of sky in 5 seconds or so.</p>
<p>It didn't look like my experience of meteors - thicker and slower, and quite bright. I think it survived until it was out of sight entirely, rather than burning out.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-reentries-2-2/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Aerospace.org</a>'s reentry predictions doesn't show anything for that time.</p>
<p>I've seen ISS and other satellites; this was a lot larger and brighter, and my favorite <a href="https://in-the-sky.org/satpasses.php?country=240&amp;reg1=3627&amp;reg2=34639&amp;town=17913" rel="nofollow noreferrer">satellite pass schedule</a> also shows nothing.</p>
<p>Was this more likely a rocket body re-entry, or a large meteor?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-22T14:00:24.217Z
Could it be a falling piece of space debris?
L.R.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-26T17:44:30.290Z
Nice resource, but wrong date - mine was Tuesday night (1/20) local, Wednesday morning (1/21) UTC.
Russell Borogove
<meteor><artificial-satellite>
Did I see a meteor or a re-entry?
Russell Borogove
# Did I see a meteor or a re-entry?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-01-21)

Last night (January 21, 2015, possibly 5:30 UTC), from my house in northern California, I saw a moving point of light in the sky, going west to east, crossing about 120 degrees of sky in 5 seconds or so.

It didn't look like my experience of meteors - thicker and slower, and quite bright. I think it survived until it was out of sight entirely, rather than burning out.

[Aerospace.org](http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-reentries-2-2/)'s reentry predictions doesn't show anything for that time.

I've seen ISS and other satellites; this was a lot larger and brighter, and my favorite [satellite pass schedule](https://in-the-sky.org/satpasses.php?country=240&reg1=3627&reg2=34639&town=17913) also shows nothing.

Was this more likely a rocket body re-entry, or a large meteor?

**Tags:** meteor, artificial-satellite

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Could it be a falling piece of space debris?  
> **username_0**: Nice resource, but wrong date - mine was Tuesday night (1/20) local, Wednesday morning (1/21) UTC.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-09-19. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Partial answer only.

> 120 degrees of sky in 5 seconds or so.

120 degrees in 5 seconds is about 0.42 radians per second. At a distance of 70 km (roughly the distance where an overhead meteor would start to glow visibly) that would be **roughly 29 km/sec**.

That's a nice number for a [meteor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#Meteors).

But it's quite a challenging number for an originally earth-launched object to achieve during reentry unless it's done some planetary flyby's to change it's orbital energy relative to the Sun.

I know it's been almost 6 years now, but if there's a chance that the apparent rate was a lot less than 0.4 radians per second, it would open up the possibility of a reentering artificial object.

If not, I think it is more likely to be a meteor, though reentry of a deep-space bit of space junk is not impossible.


---

