A strange spiral has been recorded across the Hawaiian sky. The video comes from the Subaru Telescope near Mauna Kea. Hobby astronomer and satellite tracker Marco Langbroek explains the phenomenon:
“The video shows the characteristic spiral of the fuel bleed of a Falcon 9 rocket. (…) The rocket was retrieved over the Pacific after the end of the first orbit.”
Langbroek ggü Spaceweather.com
The spiral was sighted hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 was launched from California with a US spy satellite. The Falcon 9 is a rocket designed for multiple missions and returned to earth after launch. Since its development in 2017, the system has carried satellites and other cargo into space dozens of times.
The Subaru Telescope is a 13,000-foot infrared telescope operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.
Sources: CNN Spaceweather.com LiveScience