What did we see within the sky on Tuesday evening? A UFO? A weird meteor fireball? Right here’s what we all know.
At 10:40 p.m. EDT on the evening of Tuesday, August 12, skywatchers throughout Ontario and Quebec who had been exterior hoping to identify Perseid meteors flashing throughout the sky, as an alternative spied one thing very unusual passing overhead.
A vivid level of sunshine slowly ‘drifted’ by, surrounded by a wispy white spiral.
Ariane 6 rocket gas dump – Valérie Raymond – Lévis QC – August 12 2025
This spiral within the sky was captured on August 12, 2025, from Lévis, QC. (Valérie Raymond)
The spiral made its method round on social media, with many individuals interested by what they had been seeing.
It did not take lengthy for web sleuths to trace down the supply. The spiral was brought on by an Arianne 6 rocket, launching into area.
Hours earlier than, at 8:37 p.m. EDT, a brand new climate satellite tv for pc lifted off from the Guiana Area Centre, aka Europe’s Spaceport, situated on the coast of French Guiana, in northeastern South America.
Ariane 6 lofts MetOp-SG-A1 and Sentinel-5 into orbit
*An Ariane 6 rocket lofts the MetOp-SG-A1 satellite tv for pc in the direction of area in a nighttime launch from French Guiana on August 12, 2025. (ESA/S. Corvaja)
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Perched atop an Ariane 6 rocket, the satellite tv for pc, generally known as MetOp Second Technology A-1, was sure for a low-Earth polar orbit.
Thus, in contrast to most orbital boosters which head east once they launch, this one was headed on a trajectory straight north.
Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who’s an skilled on area launches, orbital missions, and area junk reentry (amongst different issues), posted about the launch on BlueSky. His maps confirmed the preliminary trajectory of the rocket because it flew over the Atlantic Ocean after which the Maritimes, the place it handed immediately over the northern tip of Cape Breton Island. Persevering with on over Northern Quebec, Labrador, and the Canadian Archipelago, the rocket delivered its payload over the North Pole.
Jonathan McDowell Ariane 6 Launch Maps Aug 12 2025 BlueSky
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As soon as the rocket’s higher stage had launched MetOp SG A-1 into orbit, and was making its second move across the planet, it reached the purpose the place it started its de-orbit procedures.
This concerned adjusting its trajectory in order that it will plunge again down into the environment, whereas concurrently placing itslef right into a spin for higher aerodynamics, and dumping any extra gas nonetheless in its tanks.
Because it started this course of, roughly 800 kilometres above Lake Superior, the spin of the rocket stage turned the venting gas right into a widening spiral of glittering droplets, lit by the Solar peaking over the limb of the planet. At that top above the floor, this spiral was seen throughout a large area, and would have been seen by anybody with clear skies who was wanting up on the proper time.
What’s MetOp-SG-A1?
Based on the European Space Agency, MetOp Second Technology A-1 is the primary of two new climate satellites being launched into low-Earth orbit.
MetOp Second Technology A-type satellite tv for pc for climate forecasting pillars
An artist’s rendition of the MetOp Second Technology A-1 satellite tv for pc, flying in low-Earth orbit over a hurricane. (ESA/ATG medialab (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO))
It carries a payload of six science devices designed to supply temperature and humidity information for various ranges of the environment, at completely different wavelengths of the spectrum of sunshine, in addition to info on clouds, aerosols, ozone, and different hint gases. Additionally included is the Copernicus Sentinel-5 spectrometer, which can report information on air pollution, ozone, and greenhouse gases.
Subsequent 12 months, someday between June and August 2026, MetOp-SG-A1’s companion satellite tv for pc, MetOp-SG-B1, is predicted to launch with a barely completely different, however complementary suite of devices.
Collectively, they characterize the primary of three pairs of MetOp-SG satellites that can function on this mission over the following 20 years.
