Will We See Increased Fireballs In The Skies of New York State?

It's always fun to catch a glimpse of a shooting star in the night sky, and many of us as kids were told to make a wish when we saw one.

There are a couple of reasons for a quick fireball to shoot through the sky, such as a meteor that burns up in the atmosphere, but we could see more fireballs in the night sky for a long time, based on the actions of the Russian Federation.

According to the United States Department of State, the Russian Federation recently conducted a "reckless test" of a direct-ascent anti-satellite missile. This caused over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of smaller debris to pose a threat to all other nations.

Erie County Blotter's Twitter page warned that more fireballs could soon be seen on a more frequent basis.

Space.com says that the debris from the Russian anti-satellite test will be a threat for years.

It will cause problems for satellites in lower-orbit earth, and for those aboard the International Space Station for "years to come," according to experts as Space.com reported.

Hugh Lewis, the head of the Astronautics Research Group at the University of Southampton, says that roughly half of the debris fragments might fall to Earth within the next couple of years.

Lewis adds that he would not be surprised if the International Space Station had to make "collision avoidance maneuvers" over the next few years as a result of the dangerous debris.

Satellites have been the reasons for fireballs before to be seen by onlookers. Just last week, a Russian military satellite that had shown signs of failure, was said to be the cause of a fireball that could be seen in parts of the Midwest.

As it just so happens, the Leonids meteor shower is expected to make its impact November 16-17, which can feature 10-15 shooting stars per hour, but the moon's brightness might get in the way of that this year.