As if Friday the 13th wasn’t freaky enough, a mysterious piece of space junk re-entered Earth’s atmosphere earlier this morning above Sri Lanka. No worries though, multiple space agencies had their eyes on the bizarre object named WT1190F or WTF for short. WTF was likely a piece of rocket body that had been orbiting Earth for years. As expected, the object broke into pieces, burst in flames and was destroyed in the atmosphere.
Many viewers in Sri Lanka were disappointed they couldn’t see anything from the ground. Luckily, a camera was able to zoom in and capture the event. Scientists are excited to learn more about how our atmosphere interacts with objects upon re-entry. NASA tracks more than 500,000 pieces of debris, or “space junk,” as they orbit the Earth.
Astronomy Center
For WeatherNation: Meteorologist, Monica Cryan
(Headline Image: NASA)