Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Ground-based optical observations of the Queensland superbolide.
Image credit: Elizabeth A. Silber et al

It came from outer space, exploding high above the South Atlantic off the coast of Argentina. That April 1 event was an incoming meteor – also termed as a bolide – was observed by both U.S. space-based military and civil sensors.

Hush-hush U.S. government satellite sensors detected the speedy fireball cutting through our atmosphere. The object’s brightness peaked at an altitude of nearly 60 miles (90.5 kilometers) over the South Atlantic.

Artist’s rendering of NOAA’s GOES East satellite in orbit. Among duties, the spacecraft provides real-time mapping of lightning activity.
Image credit: NOAA

That dazzling spectacle was also caught by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration’s GOES-E and Europe’s Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) Imager-1 satellite. Those two independent spacecraft in geostationary orbit detected the bolide via onboard lightning imagers.

This sky fall show is among a number of recent episodes that spotlight the value of combining multi-sensor data to portray not only fireball dynamics, but also to help appreciate human-caused space debris impacts, as well as strengthening planetary defense knowhow.

For details, go to my new Space.com story – “Planetary defense: How military and civil satellites are watching fireballs to help keep Earth safe from space rocks” – at:

https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/planetary-defense-how-military-and-civil-satellites-are-watching-fireballs-to-help-keep-earth-safe-from-space-rocks