The Perseid meteor shower is often considered as the best meteor shower of the year.
The Perseid meteor shower earlier this month delighted skygazers who saw shooting star-like space objects falling from the night sky. But one telescope in Hawaii captured an impressive sight and its video is now going viral. The highlight was not the meteor shower, but a satellite ‘train’ moving through the sky. According to the BBC, the group of 15 dots appearing in the horizon above were SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. The video was captured by the Subaru Telescope in Mauna Kea.
The clip, shot on August 11, has been posted on its official YouTube channel.
A Starlink satellite train was captured over the #SubaruTelescope, Maunakea, Hawai`i, during the special live for the Perseid Meteor Shower on August 11, 2023 (HST).
Watch the video⬇️https://t.co/ZK3dxbSVsa
Credit: NAOJ & Asahi Shimbun pic.twitter.com/pu5kPnXfZT— Subaru Telescope Eng (@SubaruTel_Eng) August 21, 2023
“We did a special live streaming of the night sky over the Subaru Telescope at the peak days of the Perseid Meteor Shower. This was the view captured by the live by coincidence,” said the description of the video.
It added that the satellites were “fairly bright and impressive”.
The Perseid meteor shower is often considered as the best meteor shower of the year. The Perseids are visible from July through September. Depending on the year, they typically reach their peak strength on August 12 or 13.
The annual meteor shower gets its name from the fact that the meteors appear to originate from a location in the Perseus constellation.
According to National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Subaru Telescope is a very large optical infrared telescope installed near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
The aperture of its primary mirror is 8.2 metres, making it one of the largest monolithic mirrors in the world.
A major feature of the Subaru Telescope is that its prime focus boasts an overwhelming wide field of view compared to other large telescopes, said the website.