What were those mysterious lights in the evening sky?

3 months ago 18

Mysterious lights spotted in the sky over south-east Queensland and northern NSW, which prompted myriad social media theories on Wednesday night, were the result of rocket launched about 7000 kilometres away.

South Maclean resident Marion McLennan captured the moment when she took her bins for collection shortly after sunset at her home just south of Brisbane.

“[The lights] lingered and moved from north-west toward east and then finally disappeared,” she said.

Rocket plumes seen from South Maclean in south-east Queensland on on Wednesday night.

“It lasted maybe around 10 to 15 minutes.”

While several theories – some more outlandish than others – circulated on social media, University of Southern Queensland astrophysicist Professor Jonti Horner confirmed the phenomenon was a result of a Chinese commercial rocket launch.

The 50.5-metre Long March-8A rocket lifted off from the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Centre, off the coast of mainland China, at 5.49pm AEST.

“It’s always a UFO [unidentified flying object] until it becomes an identified flying object, that’s usually the case,” Horner said.

Horner said conditions were perfect for the rocket’s effects to be visible in eastern Australia.

“It’s easier to see them when the sky is dark,” he said.

The rocket plumes launched high enough to catch the sun’s rays for people viewing from around south-east Queensland and northern NSW, Horner said, even though it was past sunset.

“The satellites were [also] launched on a tilted orbit … which means it launched directly over Australia,” he said.

And there should be more launches to come.

“It’s effectively the Chinese equivalent of Starlink, it’s a telecommunications network that will eventually have something like 13,000 satellites in it,” Horner said.

The Long March-8A carrier rocket lifting off from Hainan on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the first Australian-designed and manufactured rocket launched near Bowen, only to explode near the launchpad.

Gilmour Space’s 23-metre, 30-tonne Eris 1 rocket lifted off shortly after 8.30am on Wednesday and was airborne for about 14 seconds.

While the launch received some flack online, Horner commended the effort.

“It was the best first rocket launch I’ve seen,” he said.

Before the test-flight, Gilmour Space had set a target of simply getting off the launchpad and celebrated the launch as a major milestone for the Australian space industry.

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