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Residents captured video of the moving space element and posted it online
On Wednesday night, some Dubai residents witnessed a dazzling “mystery flying object” speeding through the night sky and were confused as to whether it was a UFO or a meteor shower.
Some locals were alarmed by the strange item. A night skydiver was even called the moving space object by one person who recorded a video of it and put it online with various fascinating and humorous comments.
Since the item was “space garbage,” according to astronomers in the UAE, there is “nothing worrisome” about it tearing across the sky.
The Chelyabinsk meteor was a small asteroid that was about the size of a six-story building and broke up over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013.
After this incident, Nasa established a Planetary Defense Coordination Office that takes data from the agency’s Near-Earth Object Observations program.
The office is said to be responsible for tracking potentially hazardous objects, communicating information about the same, and also leading the coordination of response in case there is a threat.
Meteor versus space debris
According to Hasan Al Hariri, CEO of the Dubai Astronomy Group, when Khaleej Times contacted him, “What everyone saw was space junk. When we discuss meteors, we mean how quickly they move. From Earth, it appears as a brief flash that lasts for a few seconds as it crosses the sky. Take the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor as an illustration.
It quickly entered the atmosphere before exploding and wreaking enormous destruction. The shock wave it produced broke glass and hurt countless numbers of people. The difference between meteors and space junk might be difficult for the common individual to grasp, Hariri continues.
He also explained that space launches now have plans for safe vehicle re-entry at the end of life, coming down in a known zone down-range of the launch pad so that it doesn’t lead to a cascade of space junk.
He added, “So when we talk about things that are man-made and coming down from space, such things are controlled. Scientists and controllers of space stations or probes, do the maneuvering in a specified way with regards to speed and location and where it will fall without harming people and habitation.
“When these objects enter the Earth’s atmosphere it disintegrates and that breaking up process will ignite smaller pieces and it looks like what people saw recently. This also moves slowly in the sky. People can visualize it moving and eventually it comes down to the sea if something big is left from that burning process. But in most cases, nothing will fall on people. These are the distinctive ways to understand whether what we are witnessing is space debris or if it’s a meteor.”
“When these objects approach the Earth’s atmosphere, they break up and ignite smaller fragments, giving the appearance of what people have lately witnessed. In the sky, this is likewise moving slowly. If there is anything substantial left over after that burning process, people may see it traveling and finally falling into the sea. However, most of the time nothing will befall folks. These are the telltale signs that let us determine whether we are seeing meteors or space junk.