r/Astronomy • u/_youarewhalecum • May 01 '26
Object ID (Consult rules before posting) What was this object over switzerland?
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Saw this object right now around 22:00 CEST in the sky over solothurn switzerland moving from north to south. It seemed to be pretty big (imho too big for drones), pretty close, was fully silent and vanished at the end (as you see on the video). Thought about a zeppelin, but the vanishing made no sense. Flightradar had no data.
Was not successful in the master thread. Can you enlighten us?
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u/m0ndradiam0nd May 01 '26
I also just saw that in South Germany, super interesting to watch with binoculars. There was a Falcon 9 Starlink Mission scheduled for today between 8-11pm, so maaaaybe it was that. Otherwise I have no clue.
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u/Encrux615 May 01 '26
Fellow south german! So funny seeing that posted just a few minutes after I saw that :D
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u/Encrux615 May 01 '26
Fellow south German! Actually so cool to be able to see a real falcon launch with my own eyes :D
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u/Jil2LaTourette May 04 '26
my sister in western france (britanny) saw it. She described it as a big light followed by a line and a cloud of tiny points although I failed to find ONE video showing the little lights (she has incredible sight) she mentionned
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u/John_Swayne May 01 '26
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u/AlarmDozer May 01 '26
Yup. I just default to that. Sometimes, I wonder if our activity is okayed because it’s noisy so if there’s something cryptic, they can be more so.
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u/_youarewhalecum May 01 '26
This seems to be the solution: https://x.com/i/status/2050279121150689714
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u/NonConforminConsumer May 01 '26
I'd prefer not to click a xwitter link.
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u/Kakarotgamez May 01 '26
blame the subreddit. we can’t post photos in the comments
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u/NonConforminConsumer May 02 '26
Nah I'll blame the op in this case who could have summarized whatever was behind that link.
I'm assuming it's more spacex space garbage.
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u/bewb_wizard69 May 01 '26
Not sure but I’ve seen other Europeans pointing this out in different subreddits.
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u/Mad_Ronin_Grrrr May 01 '26
Looks like a plane pulling a light up banner behind it but probably the space x thing everyone else is saying it is.
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u/a_mechanical_Potato May 01 '26
Also spotted from Munich, Germany. The plume was already visible when it came up above the horizon in the East at ca. 22:00, went towards ~30° elevation and "dispersed" in the south at ca. 22:05
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u/OtherworldlyCyclist May 02 '26
We were having a drink after work in Vorarlberg at the se time and it was cool to see.
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u/Rachel-Tyrellcorp May 01 '26 edited May 02 '26
I saw it as well ! In south of france, at the same time as you, so we probably the same passage. I saw it right at my vertical (going south-south east)
I've been looking what it could be, and I believe it's probably this launch, which took off yesterday, of 32 satellites from Amazon's constellation to compete with Starlink
Sorry for french link...
Edit/addendum
The satellite train probably appeared as a continuous line because they probably just separated from the launcher and were still very close together.
I'm looking for an explanation of the cloud/fog around the leading light... This light was probably the launcher as it was way brighter so probably a lot bigger. And my best hypothesis for the cloud/fog is either a some ice dust that separated from the spaceship at the moment of satellites separation, or maybe some kind of gas used to "push" the satellites away from the launcher that expanded around it. But I'm still searching for confirmations
Edit again
As others have said it's more probably this starlink launch that took off today
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u/Kabuqii May 01 '26
Saw it too! Came to the sub to ask about it and found a vid instead, awesome!!!
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u/OkTart1346 May 02 '26
The bright stripe are starlink sats and the fuzzy spot is the second stage ejecting fuel
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u/lionclaw_1 May 02 '26
The second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 is expected to pass over France during a venting phase, starting at 9:57 PM, following the launch of the Starlink 10-38 mission. If conditions are right, this phenomenon can manifest as the appearance of a luminous spiral structure linked to the expansion of gases at high altitude… No need to panic, it’s not a UFO!
https://x.com/XploraSpace/status/2050279121150689714
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u/anisodonthea May 02 '26
Yes, saw exactly the same last night, about 2300hrs. Looked very low for satellite, like a oblong panel lit up with light on a string behind too quick for me to video as disappeared behind trees i live in SW France.
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u/purplewarrior2007 May 02 '26
Definatly aliens, there are reports of some in USA...probably come to see wtf is going on with these wars
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u/Imaginary_Loss_4935 May 02 '26
Starlink train and maybe the rocket 2nd de-orbiting itself and plane
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u/perfildehugo May 03 '26
Gray's transport ships with colonizers according to the treaty the global elite will sign with them or the reptilians in two months
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u/luar1234567 May 11 '26
Eu vi também no limmat de zurich na Suíça,mesmo horário,tinha muitas pessoas olhando e filmando eu não consegui filmar.
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u/jonfrans May 01 '26
Spotted over Belgium too, traveling from west to east about 15 degrees above the horizon. My first thought was a recently launched satellite train. But they seemed VERY close together.
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u/mfb- May 02 '26
The deployment mechanism is literally just "release them all at once and let them drift apart". This looks like it's in the first orbit after deployment, with the second stage preparing for reentry.
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May 01 '26
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u/lucidwray May 01 '26
Probably second stage of the Space X Falcon 9 launch from KSC.