Mysterious spiral spotted in the sky
In the early hours of January 18, the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera noticed a mysterious spiral in the sky. The observatory’s camera at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii managed to capture the spiral.
The observatory captured time-lapse footage of the spiral as it moved and appeared as a dot in the left-hand corner of the camera’s field of vision. The dot soon released an arc-like feature that got gradually larger until it took the shape of a mysterious spiral in the sky.
WHAT WAS THE SPIRAL?
The spiral was caused by a SpaceX launch that put a GPS satellite in orbit for the American Space Force on the same day. Soon later, the spiral shape was discovered by Hawaii’s Subaru Telescope.
The Falcon 9’s top stage, which vents out unused fuel throughout its drawn-out descent into the ocean, is probably what created the space. According to Spaceweather.com, the spiral pattern of the upper stage was likely caused by it spinning on its largest axis to stabilize flight direction. Every week, on average, SpaceX launches one satellite into low Earth orbit. In 2022, the Elon Musk-run business launched 61 Falcon-9 and Falcon-Heavy rockets.
