A Soviet spacecraft is set to fall back to Earth in the next week. Nobody knows where it will land.
Trackers think the object that's rapidly losing altitude in Earth's orbit is the Venus entry capsule from the Soviet Union's Kosmos 482 mission. That means it's a three-foot-wide, half-ton, titanium-encased sphere that was built to withstand a brutal plunge to the surface of Venus.
Since Venus's atmosphere is nearly 100 times denser than Earth's and its surface is about 900 degrees Fahrenheit, this spacecraft is built tough.
It's probably strong enough to survive the fall back to Earth without burning up in our atmosphere, according to Patricia Reiff, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University.
"It has a heat shield and it is also more dense than a lot of the normal space debris," Reiff told Business Insider. "The odds are very, very high that it will fall harmlessly to Earth, but there is that small percentage and so we certainly want to be alert."
When, where, and how big the fireball will be
Kosmos 482 was the last of a series of probes the Soviet Union launched to Venus in the 1960s and 70s. This one never made it out of Earth's orbit due to an engine malfunction.
The Venus entry capsule is the final piece of Kosmos 482 that's still hanging around. A large module from the mission and the upper stage of its rocket both fell into Earth's atmosphere uneventfully in the 1980s.
Based on its current trajectory, experts expect the spacecraft will descend so low that it will succumb to the drag of Earth's atmosphere and plummet down sometime between May 7 and 13.
It's too early to know where the Venus capsule will reenter Earth's atmosphere, much less where it will land.
Most of the planet is water, so it's highly unlikely that the capsule will strike people or property.
"I expect it'll have the usual one-in-several-thousand chance of hitting someone," Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks notable objects in orbit, wrote in a blog post in April. He added that, although the spacecraft is dense, it has no nuclear materials on board.
"No need for major concern, but you wouldn't want it bashing you on the head," he added.
As the capsule descends lower into the atmosphere, Reiff said NASA's orbital-debris trackers will be able to calculate the last few orbits it will make before falling. Then they'll have a range of places it might land.
The spacecraft's plummet will be visible to anyone nearby as a big, beautiful fireball, according to Reiff.
"A typical meteor is like a grain of sand. A normal fireball might be a marble. This is a meter across, so it's big," Reiff said. "It should be spectacular."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Astronomers Say They've Finally Solved the 'Little Red Dots' Mystery
When the James Webb Space Telescope first came online in 2022, it immediately spotted something astronomers had never seen before: "little red dots" peppering the ancient expanse of deep space, originating from around when the universe was just one billion years old. Ever since, we've struggled to explain what these faint signals could be. The prevailing theory is that they're some kind of extremely compact galaxy. But at only two percent of the diameter of the Milky Way, the distribution of stars would have to be impossibly dense, perhaps more so than our current laws of physics allow. They're also too faint to be produced by a quasar, a type of supermassive black hole that is actively devouring matter, which it causes to heat up and glow. Moreover, the black holes would be "overmassive" for such a small galaxy, scientists argue. Now, famed Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb (or infamous, depending on how you view his speculative theories regarding aliens) and his colleague Fabio Pacucci believe they have an answer. In a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, the pair reinforce the idea that the family of red oddities are, in fact, galaxies — but are unusually tiny because they haven't started spinning up to speed yet. It's a hypothesis rooted in one of the leading theories for galaxy formation, which holds that these structures form in "halos" of dark matter, the invisible substance thought to account for 85 percent of all mass in the cosmos. While we can't see or interact with dark matter, it does exert a significant gravitational influence, which explains how the largest structures in the cosmos came together and took shape. In the study, the astronomers propose that the diminutive galaxies formed in halos that just so happened to be among the slowest spinning in the cosmos, with 99 percent of halos spinning faster. The idea, in principle, is simple. If you held out a piece of rope in one hand and started spinning in place, the rope would stretch out and reach farther. But if you slowed down, the rope would slump to the ground. This hypothesis would explain why we're only seeing the dots at such a nascent period of the universe. Over time, the halos would inevitably speed up, and their constituent galaxies would expand. "Dark matter halos are characterized by a rotational velocity: some of them spin very slowly, and others spin more rapidly," Loeb said in a statement about the work. "We showed that if you assume the little red dots are typically in the first percentile of the spin distribution of dark matter halos, then you explain all their observational properties." It's a compelling theory — but it's not the only game in town. Recently, two teams of astronomers found clues that what we're witnessing may actually be an entirely new class of cosmic object: "black hole stars." Their work suggests the glowing dots are an active supermassive black hole surrounded by a vast and thick shell of gas. The intense radiation of the black hole heats up the shell, which absorbs most of the emissions, dimming the light to an outside observer. In many ways, it resembles a star blown up to epic proportions — except, instead of nuclear fusion powering the center, there's a voracious black hole churning through matter. Loeb and Pacucci's theory doesn't address whether these slow-spinning galaxies have a black hole at their center, but suggests that they could form one. "Low-spin halos tend to concentrate mass in the center, which makes it easier for a black hole to accrete matter or for stars to form rapidly," Pacucci said in the statement. The luminous red dots, he added, "might help us understand how the first black holes formed and co-evolved with galaxies in the early universe." More on space: Astronomers in Awe of Terrifying "Eye of Sauron" That's Pointed Straight at Earth
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Manhattan-sized interstellar object appears to emit its own light: Harvard scientist
Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS — which is zooming through our inner solar system — appears to be emitting its own light, according to Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb. The observation by Loeb, if verified, would contradict NASA's classification of the Manhattan-sized object as a comet, the scientist argues in a new blog post. 4 An image of 3I/ATLAS taken by the Hubble Telescope on July 21, according to NASA. AP Advertisement Loeb and a colleague analyzed photos released by NASA of the object in determining that the source of its glow is likely not from the sun. The astrophysicist wrote the 'brightness profile around 3I/ATLAS implies that the nucleus dominates the observed light.' 'The simplest interpretation is that the nucleus of 3I/ATLAS produces most of the light,' he wrote in the paper published Sunday. Advertisement The level of light observed on 3I/ATLAS could be achieved 'from a source diameter smaller than 100 meters,' according to Loeb. This shift in understanding the light source would also mean that 3I/ATLAS is quite smaller than initially thought, and more comparable in size to the two other known interstellar objects, Oumuamua and Borisov. 4 Images taken by the Hubble Telescope show the object glowing at its front end and not having any comet tail. Jewitt et al. 2025 If 3I/ATLAS were reflecting light, it would mean the object was 12 miles long, which is improbable, according to the astrophysicist. Advertisement Loeb speculated that the nucleus of the object could in fact be nuclear — and possibly an engine crafted by an alien people. 'A natural nuclear source could be a rare fragment from the core of a nearby supernova that is rich in radioactive material. This possibility is highly unlikely, given the scarce reservoir of radioactive elements in interstellar space,' Loeb wrote. 4 The trajectory of the object brings it through our inner Solar System in perfect position to possibly observe Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech 'Alternatively, 3I/ATLAS could be a spacecraft powered by nuclear energy, and the dust emitted from its frontal surface might be from dirt that accumulated on its surface during its interstellar travel,' Loeb conjectured, adding, 'This cannot be ruled out, but requires better evidence to be viable.' Advertisement Loeb argued this conclusion is bolstered by 3I/Atlas' 'fine-tuned trajectory.' That suspicious trajectory will see the object blocked from Earth's view by the sun just as it will get its closest to our pale blue dot. It will also make passes of Mars and Jupiter, adding to Loeb's suspicions that this could be a reconnaissance mission conducted by an inquisitive and interstellar intelligence. 4 The object was first discovered by the NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile on July1, according to NASA. ATLAS/University of Hawaii/NASA Loeb is now calling for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to use its HiRISE camera to make observations of 3I/ATLAS when it passes by 17 million miles away in the first week of October. He has also called for NASA to direct its Juno craft, currently orbiting Jupiter, to make what observations it can when 3I/ATLAS passes nearby next spring. NASA has maintained that 3I/ATLAS is merely a comet. Loeb pointed out to The Post that earlier this year NASA claimed to discover a new asteroid which turned out to merely be the Tesla Roadster that Elon Musk launched into space.
Miami Herald
6 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Creature found on ‘rainy night' in Panama may be oldest ever known. See ‘Nelson'
On a 'very rainy night' in western Panama, herpetologists searching a forest reserve saw something in the darkness. It was a small, brownish frog hopping across the road, and the reptile and amphibian researchers captured the animal for a closer look. It was a known species — Ctenophryne aterrima — but this find marked the first time the frog was spotted in Panama, previously making appearances in Costa Rica and Colombia. The day was July 24, 1987, and when the frog was entered into the scientific record, the researchers couldn't have known that it would go on to be one of the longest living tropical frogs ever recorded. 'It is generally understood that (frogs and toads) inhabiting cool or temperate regions, whether latitudinally or altitudinally, tend to reach higher ages than those living in warm and hot areas,' Karl-Heinz Jungfer, one of the herpetologists who collected the frog, wrote in an Aug. 15 correspondence published in the peer-reviewed journal Salamandra. The male frog, measuring about 2.2 inches long from snout to legs, would have been preserved, but due to time constraints, it was instead taken to Germany alive and placed in a moist terrarium, according to the paper. Researchers fed it crickets and fruit flies. Before long, it was part of the lab. The frog was called Nelson, the 'only frog ever to have a nickname at our lab,' Jungfer told McClatchy News in an email. Nelson was already an adult when he was collected, but in the next four years of his life, he grew a few more millimeters before stopping at 2.3 inches long, according to the paper. The researchers learned more about Nelson over the next few decades. 'No advertisement call was ever heard, but this is no surprise, for no 'rainy season' was ever induced by artificial 'rain' that could have simulated a breeding season,' Jungfer wrote. Nelson gladly took food, typically gobbling it up with his tongue instead of holding it in his mouth, according to the paper. He had favorites, preferring light-colored prey to darker colors. Seven years after Nelson was first collected, he was put in an outdoor terrarium, Jungfer wrote. Then, the temperatures outside reached lower than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and he became 'so stiff and hardly able to move,' which caused him to be 'promptly' moved back inside. Ten years after Nelson joined the lab, the researchers found a lesion on his skin that they successfully treated with antibiotics, according to the paper. In July 2016, Nelson had been living in captivity for 29 years, Jungfer wrote, and researchers noticed that his right eye was missing. The other eye, Nelson's left, became severely swollen in 2024, rendering him blind as far as the researchers could tell. 'For feeding, (Nelson) had to be placed in a small plastic box, where it caught prey when it made contact with the frog's fingers,' Jungfer wrote. 'Nonetheless, it was able to locate its usual hiding places after feeding.' In June 2024, Nelson was found dead in his terrarium, making him 38 years old at the time of death, according to the paper. He spent a total of 36 years and 11 months in captivity, researchers said. Nelson is believed to be 'among the oldest (frogs and toads) known, and among tropical species, by far the most long-lived one,' according to the paper. 'In contrast to frogs in the wild, numerous individual frogs living under captive conditions are more long-lived than those recorded in the wild,' Jungfer wrote. 'This increased longevity can be explained by the absence of predation, stable environmental conditions and food supply, as long as the husbandry requirements are adequately met.' Previous reports say a Bufo bufo frog once lived to be 36 years old, an Anaxyrus americanus lived to 30 years old and a Bombina variegata was 29 years old at the time of its death, according to the paper. But 38-year-old Nelson, according to academic reports, has now taken the record. Nelson was found in Provincia de Chiriquí along Panama's southwestern coast.
