Last night, social networks were shocked by an unusual phenomenon in the sky, which could be observed by thousands of residents of Europe and parts of Russia.
A strange column of light in the night sky was interpreted as a sign, the trail of a rocket, a comet, or simply space debris smoldering in near-earth orbit, writes a Belnovosti correspondent.
In order to reassure the public and eliminate inaccuracies, the situation was commented on by the staff of the IKI and ISTP SB RAS.
What happened
On the night of August 25-26, the sky was illuminated by a mysterious white beam that could be seen by residents of Europe and Russia.
The event was written about by Internet users from Ukraine and Russia, Poland and Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Germany and France, Austria and Switzerland.
What are the assumptions?
Among the versions voiced to explain the origin of the optical phenomenon, there was even the launch of an unknown combat missile.
The top versions also included a falling meteorite and space debris. But none of them have received scientific confirmation.
Just the facts
The staff of the solar astronomy laboratory of IKI and ISTP SB RAS explained that the appearance of the luminous column was caused by the release of rocket fuel.
It was produced by the Chinese orbital rocket “Changzheng-8”. It was launched from the Wenchang Cosmodrome on August 25 at 22:08 (Moscow time) and put several communications satellites into orbit.
The rocket fuel froze, crystallizing its particles, which reflected the sun's light.
The fall of a meteorite, space debris and other objects is completely excluded, Russian scientists claim.
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