What was the fireball in the sky over North Texas?
What was that fireball in the sky over North Texas?
Did you see a fireball over North Texas on Saturday night? You weren't alone. FOX 4 meteorologist Dylan Federico explains what happened.
Many people in North Texas saw a fireball in the sky on Saturday night.
Several people sent photos and videos into the FOX 4 newsroom asking what it was that they saw.
So what was it?
Many people believed it was a meteor breaking up, but that was not the case.
Satellites break up over North Texas
Many people in North Texas saw a fireball in the sky on Saturday night. According to astronomer and orbital debris expert Jonathan McDowell, the fireball was a SpaceX Starlink internet satellite that was part of a batch launched in 2022.
The source of the lights was Starlink satellites.
According to astronomer and orbital debris expert Jonathan McDowell, the fireball was a SpaceX Starlink internet satellite that was part of a batch launched in 2022.
SpaceX has thousands of Starlink satellites orbiting Earth to provide internet access around the world.
These satellites were designed to re-enter Earth's atmosphere at the end of their mission to prevent more defunct satellites from cluttering low-Earth orbit.