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Russian cosmonaut spots 'space guests' amid dazzling auroras in video. They're not aliens
By Elizabeth Howel
They're most likely satellites
To see video click on this link
https://www.space.com/amp/russian-cosmonaut-space-guests-video-from-station.html?jwsource=cl
Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner has captured some truly amazing views of Earth from above as seen from the International Space Station, but his latest video of auroras included an unexpected surprise: five bright lights on the horizon that he dubbed 'space guests
They're likely satellites, not aliens, but still amazing to see for sure. The most likely culprit is the Starlink broadband satellites SpaceX launched on Tuesday (Aug. 18), a day before Vagner shared his video, although that has not yet been confirme
"In the video, you will see something else, not only the aurora," Vagner said on Twitter. Indeed, at the 9- to 12-second mark, a group of lights quickly shows in the video before disappearin
"5 objects appear flying alongside with the same distance," the Expedition 63 crew member wrote. "What do you think those are? Meteors, satellites or ...
Vagner added that he has told Russia's space agency Roscosmos of the objec
Roscosmos officials highlighted Vagner's video on Twitter, retweeting it with the message: "An interesting and at the same time mysterious video made by the cosmonaut of Roscosmos Ivan Vagner (@ivan_mks63) from the International Space Station
The Russian state media source TASS confirmed Roscosmos is investigating the vide
"It is too early to make conclusions until our Roscosmos researchers and scientists at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences tell us what they think," said Roscosmos spokesman Vladimir Ustimenko in the TASS report. "It was decided to hand over those materials to experts, who will tell us what that was in their opinion
This still from a video captured by Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner on the International Space Station shows a series of bright lights, likely satellites, in the distance over Earth's auroras on Aug. 19, 2020. (Image credit: Ivan Vagner/Roscosmos via Twit
But again – don't jump to the conclusion it's aliens. Satellites are the most likely answer. And it's something astronauts on the International Space Station have seen before
Back in April, station astronauts spotted a train of Starlink satellites that look very similar to this set of light
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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