A new time lapse from the International Space Station captures a meteor streaking into the atmosphere and vaporizing above the planet, turning a fleeting flash into a slow, cinematic sequence. From orbit, the event unfolds as a bright line that swells, flares and fades against the curve of Earth, offering a rare look at how a space rock dies in a blaze of plasma. The footage arrives at a moment when cameras on the station are quietly transforming how I, and many others, see both our planet and the cosmic debris that constantly rains down on it.
The meteor that lit up Earth from orbit
From the ground, a meteor is usually a blink and you miss it moment, a quick streak that leaves more impression than detail. Seen from the International Space Station, that same event becomes a sweeping arc over the limb of Earth, with the planet’s thin atmosphere acting as both canvas and shield. In the new time lapse, the meteor brightens as it slams into the upper air, then blossoms into a compact fireball before fading into darkness, a visual reminder that even modest space rocks release enormous energy as they burn up rather than reach the surface.
The clip, shared as Amazing time lapse footage from the station, shows the Meteor burning up high above Earth, its path tracing the curve of the planet as city lights glow far below. The sequence, which was Posted and then Last updated earlier this month, compresses real time into a few seconds, so the meteor’s entry, flare and disappearance unfold in a single smooth motion. It is a vantage point that only orbiting crews and their cameras can provide, and it turns a routine atmospheric impact into something that feels almost choreographed.
How ISS cameras caught a meteor in the act
Capturing a meteor from orbit is not as simple as pointing a camera out the window and waiting. The station circles Earth roughly every 90 minutes, and the crew must balance scientific work, maintenance and sleep with any attempt to record transient events. In this case, the time lapse suggests a camera was already running as the station passed over the night side, with long exposures stacking together to reveal both the faint glow of the atmosphere and the sudden intrusion of the meteor’s trail.
That kind of persistent watching is increasingly supported by dedicated platforms such as Sen, which focuses on Streaming Footage of Earth and outer space. The same orbital vantage point has already enabled a separate event in which a meteor explosion was captured live from the station, described as a moment when a space rock broke apart above Earth and was recorded from the ISS in real time. Reporting on that event notes that When a meteor fragments as it enters the atmosphere, the result is a rare spectacle that becomes even more striking when seen from the ISS rather than from the ground.
A new frontier in live meteor observations
For most of human history, meteors were treated as omens or curiosities, their true nature hidden by distance and speed. Now, high definition cameras on the station are turning them into data rich events that scientists can replay, analyze and compare. When a meteor explodes in the upper atmosphere, the shape of its light curve, the altitude of its breakup and the spread of its debris all carry clues about its composition and origin. From orbit, those details are easier to extract, because the camera sees the entire trajectory against the dark of space and the faint glow of the air.
Coverage of the recent live capture from the station describes it as a New Frontier in Streaming Footage, with the International Space Station The vantage point giving researchers a fresh perspective on these cosmic events. Another account frames the same moment as Meteor Explosion Captured Live from the International Space Station for the First Time Ever, emphasizing that When a space rock breaks apart above Eart from this angle, it offers a different kind of record than any ground based camera can provide. Together, these reports underline how orbital platforms are shifting meteor science from chance sightings to systematic observation.
Astronauts as frontline sky watchers
Even with automated cameras, astronauts remain crucial witnesses to what unfolds outside their windows. When a meteor slices through the atmosphere, the first person to notice may be someone floating at a cupola window, not a sensor. Astronaut Matthew Dominick recently illustrated that role by sharing a dramatic clip of a meteor slicing through the atmosphere above Africa, posting the out of this world video on X, formerly Twitter. He noted that he had shown the footage to others to help build a better understanding of what exactly took place, turning a personal moment into a shared scientific resource.
That same human presence is evident in other recent orbital videos, including clips where Live NASA coverage showed Dragon Endeavour separating from the ISS as the station orbited above Earth. In another sequence, a Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four astronauts of NASA’s Crew 11 mission lit up the skies over California, with NASA confirming that all Crew members were unhurt after the fiery reentry. These scenes, while focused on spacecraft rather than meteors, show how often orbiting crews now document high speed interactions between hardware, atmosphere and gravity, building a visual archive that includes both human made and natural fireballs.
Meteor showers, fireballs and the bigger picture
The meteor in the new time lapse is not an isolated visitor. Earth constantly plows through streams of debris left by comets and asteroids, and at certain times of year those streams produce showers that pepper the sky with shooting stars. Earlier this month, a bright fireball was seen shooting through space during the peak of one of Earth’s annual meteor showers, The Quadran tid event that usually peaks in early January. Video of that moment shows a luminous object flashing through space below the station, one of the brightest meteors from Earth during that shower.
Another clip, labeled as a Fireball flashing through space during the Quadrantid meteor shower, was recorded on Video taken below the International Sp station. Together with the ISS time lapse, these views from above and below bracket the same kind of event, showing how a single meteoroid can be tracked from multiple angles as it streaks through the atmosphere. In parallel, other orbital footage has highlighted different kinds of fiery trails, such as sequences that invite viewers to Watch a SpaceX Crew 11 spacecraft blaze a path through the sky during a medical evacuation from the ISS. I see all of these clips as part of a broader shift: the sky is no longer a distant dome, but a shared, surveilled space where natural and human made fireballs are recorded, replayed and studied in unprecedented detail.
That context makes the new meteor time lapse more than just a viral moment. It is a small but vivid example of how orbital cameras, astronaut observers and dedicated streaming platforms are turning transient flashes into lasting records. From the Quadrantid fireball below the station to the meteor that burned up over Earth in a smooth arc, each event adds another frame to a growing planetary time lapse of our own, one in which the thin line of atmosphere keeps absorbing impacts while the cameras keep rolling.
More from Morning Overview