Maharashtra Witnesses Unusual Streak Of Light – Free PDF Download

What has happened?

• A blazing streak of light cutting through the night sky took skywatchers by surprise in parts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh as they speculated the unusual event to be a meteor shower.
• The pictures and videos of the activity were shared on social media on Saturday evening.

What is meteor shower?

• As a comet travels close to the Sun, it heats up and part of the comet vaporizes.
• After a comet has orbited the Sun many times, a lot of small pieces of the comet are left along the comet’s path.
• A meteor shower happens when Earth passes through the path of a comet.

• When this happens, the bits of comet debris, most no larger than a grain of sand, create streaks of light in the night sky as they burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
• Bits of debris which enter Earth’s atmosphere are called meteors.
• There are several small meteors which shoot across the sky.
• However, during a meteor shower, tens to hundreds of meteors can be seen each hour.
• Many of these meteor showers can be predicted and occur at the same time each year.

But was it a Chinese rocket?

• While many people described the sighting as a “meteor shower,“
• Astronomer Jonathan McDowell speculated that the celestial event seen over Maharashtra was actually the “re-entry of a Chinese rocket stage” that was launched in February 2021.

• Suresh Chopade, president of Skywatch group, Nagpur, said he had been observing space-related events for the past 25 years and it seems like the event was related to a satellite.
• “It seems like a satellite of some nation might have fallen accidentally or may have been caused to fall intentionally. It does not seem like a meteor shower or fireball,” he said.
• He said it could be parts of a meteorite but the colours indicated that “a metallic thing” has accompanied it while coming towards earth.

It was the Chinese rocket

• At least one bit of debris did not burn up completely and fell over Maharashtra. Such an occurrence is considered relatively rare, as the entry was uncontrolled and large pieces of debris typically fall over the ocean.
• The bit of debris, identified as the third stage or the third ejection section, of the Long March or Chang Zheng 3B.
• However, reentry over the area could not have been prevented as it is a discarded piece of debris without any control.
• China has previously had other discarded rocket stages or parts, which have fallen into the Indian Ocean and have even inadvertently collided into the moon.
• But such occurrences are not uncommon, as all launch carriers around the world design their discarded rocket parts to burn up in the atmosphere and land in the ocean, far away from populated areas.
• However, China has come under criticism for being secretive about its space activities and declining to answer questions about such reentry objects, leading to frustration in the space and satellite industry.

is the any international convention?

• There are no laws that cover reentry or prevent a nation for allowing a bit of space debris from landing on another’s soil, But space debris damages are held financially accountable due to the 1972 Space Liability Convention.
• This was previously exercised when Canada asked the former Soviet Union for $6 million in damages in 1978, after radioactive debris was scattered on Canadian soil from a fallen Soviet satellite.

Q) Which among the following planet is surrounded by thick cloud cover and is known as Veiled planet?

1. Venus
2. Mars
3. Jupiter
4. Saturn

Latest Burning Issues | Free PDF

Sharing is caring!