The moment a shooting star rocketed over the coast of Mexico has been captured from a vantage point so unique that one could say it’s simply out of this world.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik filmed the streak of burning rock from the orbiting space lab of the International Space Station (ISS) Friday.
Bresnik, a member of NASA Expedition Crew 52/53 which has been aboard the ISS since June, was filming a timelapse video of the Earth when the phenomenon occurred right before his very eyes.
Pictures posted to Bresnik’s Twitter feed show the shooting star passing in the sky above Mexico, lighting up the surface of the planet. “That is so cool how it lights up the surface of the planet and then turns into a traditional shooting star formation,” Bresnik tweeted.
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With the space station travelling at 17,500 miles per hour – faster than a speeding bullet – Bresnik had to slow down the footage in order for viewers to get a clearer glimpse of the high-speed meteorite.
Here is a closer look at that meteor strike. That is so cool how it lights up the surface of the planet and then turns into a traditional shooting star formation. pic.twitter.com/zplhYKU8Z4
— Randy Bresnik (@AstroKomrade) December 8, 2017
Made up of rock and dust, millions of these particles come into contact with Earth’s atmosphere every day.
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While space is no doubt an incredible place to observe such phenomena, the view from the ground can be just as breathtaking, as residents in China’s Shangri-La City recently found. In October, a motorist captured a shooting star illuminating the night sky much like the burning rock featured in Bresnik’s footage.
