Watch a strange spiral appear in a starry night sky over Hawaii
Video shot by the Subaru-Asahi STAR Camera at the summit of Mauna Kea showed a green-blue sky with speckles of white stars. Then, one of those "stars" transformed into a spiral.
Mysterious spiral appears in starry sky over Hawaii
Early Sunday morning, a white dot in the sky transformed into a spiral. This video was taken by the Subaru-Asahi STAR Camera at the Catwalk of Subaru Telescope, which is located on the summit area of Maunakea, Hawaii. (Courtesy: NAOJ & Asahi Shimbun)
MAUNAKEA, Hawaii – Early Sunday morning, a spiral bloomed out of an unsuspecting dot over Hawaii.
Video shot by the Subaru-Asahi STAR Camera at the summit of the Mauna Kea volcano showed a green-blue sky with speckles of white stars.
A stars sparkle over the Subaru Telescope (domes at the bottom of the frame) on Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano summit.
(NAOJ & Asahi Shimbun / FOX Weather)
About 4:20 a.m. Sunday, one of those "stars" began to move toward the left side of the video frame, growing larger and brighter.
This white dot then pulsed, and as it moved over the domes of the Subaru Telescope, it released a white, arc-shaped feature.
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The white dots releases material in an arc shape.
(NAOJ & Asahi Shimbun / FOX Weather)
The dot continued to grow but eventually began a transformation. From a circular shape, it evolved into a spiral – almost appearing like a miniature galaxy.
The spiral appears in the sky.
(NAOJ & Asahi Shimbun / FOX Weather)
Just as quickly as it appeared, the spiral dissolved into the sky and left behind only remnants of its existence.
According to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the publication Asahi Shimbun, the phenomenon may be related to the deployment of a satellite launched by Space X earlier that day.
A zoomed-in shot of the spiral.
(NAOJ & Asahi Shimbun / FOX Weather)