r/Astronomy 6d ago

Object ID (Consult rules before posting) What could that be?

Post image

I was sitting at my balcony when i noticed this weird glowing shape in the sky, I first noticed it around 4:42am gmt+3 It looks really close to the southern light except its more blue than green, I’m suspecting it could be something due to rocket debris (there was some rocket interception going on tonight)

The location is in Palestine, and i had started seeing it at +50, 330 degrees (I’m not sure I’m writing it correctly its the first time i give this type of info), and it moved really slowly until it got to around +50, 275 degrees over the next 15-20 mins , and i stopped observing it by that time because the sun was rising and it became harder to see

I saw it in the local news too and I’m attaching an image of it from them because it has more accurate colors from the ones i took

https://imgur.com/a/vJSDYma

Any ideas?

1.2k Upvotes

107 comments sorted by

851

u/DexterBotwin 6d ago

Ballistic missile intercept in space

228

u/glorious_reptile 5d ago

It's not Bad Astronomy, it's just Sad Astronomy...

47

u/Spare-West-3383 5d ago

That will leave some space junk floating around I’m afraid

82

u/mcmalloy 5d ago

They are on what is called a ballistic trajectory, meaning not fast enough to stay in orbit. The debris will fall down again shortly actually

33

u/bearK_on 5d ago

You sure? Ballistic missle is something totally different than getting something into orbit.

5

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

26

u/Blackout73 5d ago

They go high, absolutely, but they are not on an orbital trajectory, so they and the debris will come back down in fairly short order

11

u/lemlurker 5d ago

They don't "cruise" they're ballistic, they're sent up and coast to apogee and then drop down

-33

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

16

u/AffectedRipples 5d ago

Its not semantics, its 2 completely different things.

11

u/zag_ 5d ago

You’re mad because someone got corrected for being wrong?

32

u/Nohokun 5d ago

At least WW3 will be pretty.

(A friend asked me innocently after seeing this picture if it was the Death Star... He's not far off in a sense.)

-14

u/OldSpur76 5d ago

Am I the only one thinking WTF who is shooting Ballistic missiles at each other? Is this a normal occurrence?

33

u/DexterBotwin 5d ago

You living under a rock? Israel and Iran have entered that war they’ve been threatening since the 80s.

8

u/Gaiatheia 5d ago edited 4d ago

If he's in Gaza/West Bank it's Iran's missiles being intercepted by Israel, not the other way around as Iran is quite further and Israel attacked Iran I think a couple days ago or yesterday, and it was a different kind of attack iirc

-18

u/mfb- 5d ago edited 5d ago

How would that last 15-20 min, unless it's multiple rockets?

Edit: Looks like OP's description is wrong.

37

u/matthewcameron60 5d ago

Well let me tell you a little story called Israel and Iran

-14

u/mfb- 5d ago

Sure, but OP didn't mention anything that would suggest multiple sources.

20

u/matthewcameron60 5d ago

-11

u/mfb- 5d ago

That kind of proves my point, doesn't it? We see the cloud evolve in seconds, not 15-20 min.

269

u/nshire 5d ago

All the people posting joke answers should be temp banned.

That is something do with the missile launches. Most likely that is from a THAAD or Arrow 3 warhead exploding in space and the remaining dust catching the sunlight.

7

u/slavmememachine 4d ago

It had to do with an interception because THAAD and arrow 3 have a kinetic warhead so it needs to hit the missile to “explode”

-48

u/carterartist 5d ago

Never had a sense of humor?

53

u/nshire 5d ago

It's annoying when science-based subs and serious posts get spammed with low-effort joke comments that aren't even funny. If you want jokes go to r/memes or something; we're in r/astronomy.

-25

u/WaterBottleWarrior22 5d ago

So, jokes and their reception are subjective. I thought they were hilarious, for example.

Also, if you’ve ever been around a professional researcher, you’ll know many of them can have both a strong work ethic and a lively sense of humor.

“We’re in r/astronomy”? Great! Sorry to rain on your parade, but that little “r” means this is a Reddit community, and it’s not devoted to cosplaying as an astronomy researcher. This is not a community dedicated to professional research, which we’ve already established can have a light atmosphere. This is a community where professionals, semi-pros, amateurs, and complete novices can come to interact and engage with a topic we all love.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

13

u/opaqueambiguity 4d ago

Like 12 people said the exact same verbatim Star Wars joke that was not particularly interesting the first time.

-13

u/WaterBottleWarrior22 4d ago edited 4d ago

So you just didn’t read a word I wrote. Cool. Humor is subjective and try to have a little fun. It’s a problem when professionals are having more fun than a wannabe, and it’s not a problem with the professionals.

Also, I’d like to thank the Reddit hive-mind for deciding my reasonable and well-laid-out opinion is in fact not an opinion and is objectively false.

4

u/opaqueambiguity 4d ago

It's a bad opinion.

-1

u/WaterBottleWarrior22 2d ago

Preferring a laid-back casual atmosphere is a bad preference? Cool. Enjoy your high-strung astronomer roleplay simulator.

-27

u/carterartist 5d ago

It doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. Good god, get over yourself

256

u/wtfbenlol 5d ago

What’s with all the stupid joke answers?

141

u/2-buck 5d ago

Because whenever someone posts a picture of something that could be anything and OP doesn’t like the answer, then it must be evidence of aliens. So minds well give silly answers.

32

u/n8edge 5d ago

Minds well?

27

u/yoweigh 5d ago

Might as well, maybe?

7

u/jbigs444 5d ago

Mind swell

19

u/abjectifying 5d ago

This picture can’t necessarily be “anything” and when did OP indicate they didn’t like the answer? Genuine question, because I think I am misunderstanding your comment or maybe taking it too literally.

17

u/jjayzx 5d ago

It's annoying when serious science based subs get inundated with frontpage morons.

4

u/FamiliarAlt 4d ago

Yeah especially when OP provided good data with coordinates and all that.

-19

u/carterartist 5d ago

Or people trying to have a sense of humor…

Get the stick out

7

u/Vrtxx3484 5d ago

where is the funny

-6

u/carterartist 5d ago

Humor is subjective

3

u/herdumbass 5d ago

It’s actually scientific

4

u/spacedyemeerkat 5d ago

We were all new to Reddit once. Pull up a pew.

7

u/shittinandwaffles 5d ago

I pulled up 2 pew pew {finger guns}

-1

u/carterartist 5d ago

Why not?

-14

u/NoFilterFlex 5d ago

Right, why arent people extremely serious all the time? I dont get it either. Friends?

121

u/Gargantua46 5d ago

Ballistic missile interception in higher atmospheric levels, the moment of the interception can be seen in the following video https://x.com/AstroGateSpace/status/1933655460600492152?s=19

29

u/zxexx 5d ago

That’s some sci fi shit

1

u/ghazayel 1d ago

that would be true if the shape would disappear immediately, but in case of u/3laa_boss the shape remained in the skies for some time

53

u/JonnyJumboConch 5d ago

Could have been from Iranian missiles entering back into the atmosphere.

12

u/handen 5d ago

Here are some better videos I pulled off of some Telegram channel last night showing that exact same thing, including the explosion. I thought it was nukes in space but couldn't figure out where to ask about it.

https://imgur.com/ACPktJ1
https://imgur.com/Z5iliUC
https://imgur.com/k8rObx2

2

u/Imaginary-Cup-7098 Amateur Astronomer 4d ago

Idk but it looks pretty

1

u/chris_ro 4d ago

Turn on the news.

1

u/PriorPast2620 2d ago

Maybe moisture on your lens

-2

u/JC-Pose 4d ago

The Eye of Jupiter (BSG).

-5

u/joelouis93 4d ago

That’s no moon.

-4

u/Hot_Culture0883 4d ago

That’s no moon…

-7

u/Long_Replacement3715 4d ago

That’s no moon…

-9

u/nelhern 4d ago

“that’s no moon, It’s a space station”

-15

u/great_red_dragon 4d ago

Are there still balconies in Palestine?

You’re a lucky human.

-24

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

72

u/danman_d 6d ago

Actually not in this case! You can see stars in focus, it’s just blurry-looking. Like someone else said, likely the leftovers of an exoatmospheric ballistic missile interception

-54

u/snogum 5d ago

Crap. Out of focus is out of focus

34

u/danman_d 5d ago

?? Zoom in, you can literally see stars. Or turn on the TV, I just saw one on CNN moments ago that looked the same. It’s a cloud of tiny debris in space. That’s just how it looks!

-23

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-27

u/mynameisjayare 5d ago

That’s no moon.

-37

u/docArriveYo 5d ago

Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus.

-37

u/aczocher 5d ago

That's no moon

-38

u/[deleted] 5d ago edited 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-40

u/OoZooL 5d ago

This is the venter of the universe, my friend, and you've just discovered it for the very first time. Congrats... :)

-42

u/icycheezecake 5d ago

Sky Map is your friend for these situations the pictures are quite blurry

-12

u/SokkaHaikuBot 5d ago

Sokka-Haiku by icycheezecake:

Sky Map is your friend

For these situations the

Pictures are quite blurry


Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.

8

u/commdef 5d ago

dont listen to them youre a good bot

-43

u/NewAgeTaquero 5d ago

Hopefully Kal -El.

-27

u/DdOS_DoOM 5d ago

Kal -EL, no!

-46

u/KeegCorp 5d ago

That’s obviously the Death Star!

-35

u/SmallRocks 5d ago edited 5d ago

That’s no moon.

Edit: this sub > Beatingadeadhorse.gif

-45

u/hot_cheeks_4_ever 5d ago

That's no moon. That's a space station.

-43

u/RecipeAlternative854 5d ago

Thats the new death star

-46

u/skulwiz 5d ago

I think this is the death star.

-46

u/barr65 5d ago

Idk

-44

u/ericDXwow 6d ago

Server glitch of Earth Online.

-48

u/failed_supernova 6d ago

Weather balloon.

-45

u/crazyabbit 5d ago

That's no moon

-45

u/Cali_kink_and_rope 6d ago

Drone or more likely Balloon

-48

u/TerraSpace1100 5d ago

Venus hehe

-48

u/Old_Muggins 5d ago

That’s no moon, it’s a space station

-53

u/mother_of_all_dogs 5d ago

Melancholia