Mystery as bright beam of light streaks through the skies over the US
Ammon News - Stargazers across the US have been baffled by a mysterious beam of light streaking through the sky.
Around midnight on Saturday, May 17, a glowing streak was visible above the US as far south as New Mexico.
With the aurora active after a surprise geomagnetic storm, many people initially thought the streak was STEVE - a white-mauve light emitted by rivers of charged particles.
However, astronomers have now revealed the true explanation for this bizarre phenomenon.
According to Dr Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer who tracks objects in space, the light was caused by a rocket dumping fuel.
Just an hour or so before the light became visible, Chinese startup LandSpace Technology launched a methane and oxygen-fuelled Zhuque-2E Y2 rocket.
Dr McDowell says the most likely source of the light was this rocket's second stage, releasing its 'Methalox' rocket fuel at about 155 miles (250km) above the ground.
Once released into space, the chemicals in the fuel react with plasma in the Earth's ionosphere to create an eerie whitish glow, just like the one seen above the US.
As the glowing streak appeared in the sky, many astronomers' first thought was that they were witnessing a rare space weather phenomenon called STEVE.
Over the night of May 17, the Earth was experiencing a moderate (G2 class) geomagnetic storm after being hit by material from a solar eruption.
The enormous 'bird wing' eruption had originally been predicted to miss Earth, but the wave of material was wider than expected, and the planet was hit with a glancing blow.
Although STEVE is not part of the aurora, it is also caused by space weather and appears like a glowing river of whitish-mauve light in the sky.
In a post on X, photographer Tyler Schlitt captured the event, writing: 'Just saw STEVE with my friends here in Southern Kansas is 45 minutes north of Greensburg!'
However, it soon became apparent that this was no natural phenomenon.
Writing on X, Dr McDowell said: 'TLEs confirm the Zhuque-2 upper stage passed over the US Four Corners area at 0525 UTC May 17 and is the source of the unusual luminous cloud seen by many observers.'
The Zhuque-2 rocket was launched by LandSpace Technology from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Area in northwest China at 04:21 UTC. Daily Mail
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