KEY POINTS

  • A fireball event caused by a meteor was spotted in Arizona
  • A train of Starlink satellites appeared in the photo
  • A different fireball event over Los Angeles caused a powerful explosion

An eyewitness from Tucson, Arizona, was able to spot and photograph a fireball event over the city. However, his photo of the meteor streaking across the sky was photobombed by a train of Starlink satellites from SpaceX.

The latest fireball incident occurred on April 14. It was documented by a Tucson resident named Eliot H.

Eliot filed the report regarding the fireball incident through the American Meteor Society’s website. According to his report, the meteor appeared at around 7 a.m. EDT. Although it was already daytime, the fireball produced by the meteor was still bright enough to be spotted from the ground.

As indicated in Eliot’s report, the meteor had a magnitude of -6, making it brighter than the planet Venus when it appeared.

Aside from the bright fireball produced by the meteor, the eyewitness noted that his photo also caught other cosmic objects in space. These include the train of satellites launched by SpaceX. Known as Starlink satellites, the trail left by the artificial constellation can be seen beside the meteor.

Eliot noted that SpaceX’s satellites were not the only cosmic objects that appeared in his photo. The eyewitness noted that a cosmic conjunction could be seen near the photo of the photo. According to Eliot, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen lining up beside the Moon during a cosmic conjunction.

The meteor flying over Tucson wasn’t the only fireball event that occurred on April 14. According to the American Meteor Society, different fireball events were spotted from different parts of the U.S. on that date.

Based on the reports compiled by the organization, these events occurred over Tennessee, Kansas, California and Washington. According to the reports submitted by the eyewitnesses, the duration and magnitude of the fireball event varied. The longest ones lasted for about 3.5 seconds before disappearing in the sky.

According to an eyewitness from Los Angeles, the meteor that appeared over the area had a magnitude of -20, which was bright enough to illuminate the night sky over the region. The eyewitness also noted that the meteor triggered a loud explosion before it disappeared.

Fireball Event #195517
Pictured: A Fireball event over Tucson, Arizona. Eliot H./American Meteor Society (www.amsmeteors.org)