Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Residents of Tashkent observed a bright object moving across the evening sky with a long luminous trail on 19 September. Kamoliddin Ergashev, a senior researcher at the Mirzo Ulugbek Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, conducted a preliminary analysis of photographs and videos shared on social media, the Academy of Sciences reported.
According to the specialist, the object’s appearance, movement and the trail it produced do not show the characteristic features of a meteor or fireball. The observed phenomenon is more consistent with processes associated with a rocket or its upper stage.
Specialists consider the most likely explanation to be a connection with a space launch carried out in China on 19 September. A Long March-2D (Chang Zheng-2D) carrier rocket was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center and placed four satellites from the PIESAT-2 series into orbit.
Preliminary orbital calculations showed a good match between the launch time and the rocket’s trajectory and the time and direction in which the object was observed over Tashkent.
At the same time, specialists noted that it is still too early to definitively identify the object as a specific part of the Long March-2D rocket. International orbital catalogues do not yet contain the necessary elements and independent identification of recently launched objects that would confirm such a connection.
Thus, the specialists’ preliminary conclusion is that the bright phenomenon observed over Tashkent did not display the characteristic features of a meteor or fireball.
