Astronomers recently spotted an unusual glowing object swirling in the night sky over Maunakea, Hawaii and have the video to prove it. The Subaru Telescope on Maunakea, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and National Institutes of Natural Sciences, recently captured a “mysterious flying spiral” above the island chain in the early morning hours of Jan. 18.
“It was a really unusual view,” astronomers wrote in a video on the telescope’s YouTube channel. In the footage, a bright blue spinning spiral suddenly appears among stars and various satellites over the Aloha State telescope. “At first it was just a small dot at the left center of the view,” the caption reads. “Then it ejected an arc-like feature. It became slightly larger. A bright dot appeared in the blob, then it grew into a spiral.”
On Jan 18, 2023 (HST), the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera captured a mysterious flying spiral over Maunakea, Hawai`i. The spiral seems to be related to the SpaceX company’s launch of a new satellite. https://t.co/851Gz7VojV #SubaruTelescope pic.twitter.com/Np58fxpX9e
— Subaru Telescope Eng (@SubaruTel_Eng) January 19, 2023
A time-lapse of the footage shows the spiral eventually dissipating as the object it emanated from forges a straight path. Astronomers theorize that the spiral could be related to SpaceX launching a new satellite. Earlier that day, the Elon Musk-owned company’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida with a new U.S. Global Positioning Satellite aboard. The next day, SpaceX launched more than 50 Starlink satellites into orbit from California. “We believe this phenomenon is related to [its] orbital deployment operation,” astronomers wrote in the video.
In the comments, viewers noted other objects in the sky that got their attention. “The amount of other satellites caught on the video is mind blowing,” wrote one user. Another user said it’s not the first time similar phenomena have appeared in the sky following a SpaceX launch.
Last year, people in New Zealand witnessed another spiral shape above them, which Spaceweather.com explained was due to the upper stage of Falcon 9 venting leftover fuel as it descended into the Pacific Ocean. “The upper stage was probably spinning on its longest axis to stabilize flight orientation, hence the spiral shape,” the site read. “Similar spirals have been seen after previous Falcon 9 launches.”
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