A huge fireball flashed across the sky just after SpaceX's Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station took off yesterday (Nov. 10) above the eastern United States.

To date, the American Meteor Society (AMS) has received approximately 400 reports. Some observers saw the fireball and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket track simultaneously.

According to Charlotte Observer, the incident occurred a few minutes after a Falcon 9 rocket launch, prompting some social media users to mistake the meteor for a rocket. Nearly all of the witnesses were outside the view of the launch.

The majority of reports came from North Carolina. But there were also reports from nearby states. These include West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia, and Delaware.

(Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 10: A slow shutter speed captures a streak of light from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket engines after lift off with four astronauts on board from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on November 10, 2021 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Crew-3 mission is flying to the International Space Station.

Fireball Flashes Ahead Of Taurid Meteor Shower

A fireball lit up the sky at 9:12 p.m. EST, nine minutes after Crew-3 lifted off. Space.com said the meteor was part of the Taurid meteor shower, which happens every year between September and November as Earth passes through a large stream of debris left behind by Comet Encke.

For roughly 3.5 seconds, the meteor was visible. According to data from a NASA fireball camera in western North Carolina, the rock weighed around 45 pounds (20 kilograms) and was about 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter. According to AMS, the fireball disintegrated at the height of 45 kilometers (28 miles) when it went over Macclesfield, a small community in North Carolina, traveling at roughly 33,000 mph (53,000 kph).

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Netizens Recorded Incident

Jason Rinehart was stationed at the Pine Tree Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Botetourt County when he saw the incident. According to his Facebook post, he was in the ideal position to see the launch. His one-minute exposure recorded the rocket's path, which can be seen as a faint red line running horizontally across the photograph above. The bright green flame that photobombed the whole shot, however, seized center stage.

From Gordonsville, Virginia, Peter Forister monitored the launch and filmed the enormous fireball that appeared beneath the SpaceX Crew 3 launch. As the flame burned up, automobile dashcams and doorbell cameras all around the east coast saw the incident.

Other Details Of The Flash

NASA investigated the details, WHSV said. While fireballs are not uncommon, this one appeared to have great timing for astrophotographers to snap.

  • Heading northwest at 33,000 miles per hour;
  • Lasted 3.5 seconds before bursting into flames 28 miles over Macclesfield, North Carolina;
  • The fireball rivalling the Full Moon at its fullest because of its brightness;
  • An item weighing 45 pounds and measuring 10 inches in diameter is most likely to blame;
  • The low speed suggests asteroidal origin.

AMS estimates that tens of thousands of meteors burn up in Earth's atmosphere every day. However, the majority of them go unnoticed because they arrive over the seas or during daytime hours.

The rarer fireballs, the brighter they are. According to AMS, a -6 magnitude fireball may be seen once every 200 hours of observation, whereas a -4 magnitude fireball can be seen once every 20 hours or so.

The brighter the item, the lower the magnitude number. The sun, for example, has a magnitude of -27.

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