{"id":145891,"date":"2021-08-03T15:27:45","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T01:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=145891"},"modified":"2021-08-03T15:27:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T01:27:45","slug":"meteor-outburst-captured-maunakea-telescope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/08\/03\/meteor-outburst-captured-maunakea-telescope\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare meteor outburst captured by Maunakea telescope"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_44750\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V6C42n4g5IY?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"An Outburst Meteor Event Captured by Subaru-Asahi Star CAM: 2021-07-14, 13:58:20 UTC\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\nMeteor cluster event captured on Maunakea at 3:58 a.m. on July 14. (Photo credit: Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, and Asahi Shimbun Company)\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>An unusual phenomenon raced across <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> skies this summer to the delight of online star gazers tuned in to the <a href=\"https:\/\/subarutelescope.org\/en\/\">Subaru Telescope<\/a>\u2019s livestream feed made accessible to the public. The Subaru-Asahi Sky Camera atop Maunakea captured more than a dozen meteors streaming from the same direction within a 10-second window.<\/p>\n<p>Avid viewers online were mesmerized, unsure of what the head-turning sight actually was. Astronomers from Subaru\u2019s 8.2-meter telescope describe the non-hazardous event as a rare meteor outburst associated with a &ldquo;meteoroid cluster.&rdquo; Only a few cases have been reported since the phenomenon was first identified during the Leonid meteor shower in 1997. A meteoroid cluster is thought to be caused by meteoric material breaking up into smaller pieces shortly before entering Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_145902\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145902\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/manoa-astronomy-maunakea-amos-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"AMOS camera\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-145902\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/manoa-astronomy-maunakea-amos-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/manoa-astronomy-maunakea-amos-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/manoa-astronomy-maunakea-amos.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-145902\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><abbr>AMOS<\/abbr> camera on Maunakea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;The scientific importance of capturing such a rare phenomenon is extremely great, and it is especially significant because the overall duration of the event was longer than in previous cases,&rdquo; said Professor Junichi Watanabe, vice-director of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan which oversees Subaru. &ldquo;The fact that the camera was located at Maunakea, one of the best observation sites in the world, was also a major factor in capturing such a rare event in addition to recent developments in camera technology.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Related <em><abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> News<\/em> story: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2019\/12\/16\/shooting-stars-over-hawaii\/\">Capturing shooting stars over <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span><\/a>, December, 16, 2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At least 11 meteors of the cluster were observed by the two All-Sky Meteor Orbit Systems (<abbr>AMOS<\/abbr>) cameras atop observatories on Haleakal\u0101 and Maunakea. The <abbr>AMOS<\/abbr> data, when examined by astronomers, suggests that the cluster was caused by fragments of a fragile Halley-type comet. The University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Institute for Astronomy hosts the <abbr>AMOS<\/abbr> systems, which are operated by Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, and are used for observations and analysis of meteors and fireballs.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_119086\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-119086\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-astronomy-atlas-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"atlas telescope\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-119086\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-astronomy-atlas-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-astronomy-atlas-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-astronomy-atlas.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-119086\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Telescope unit on Haleakal\u0101, Maui. (Photo credit: Henry Weiland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Subaru reached out to astronomers at the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> <a href=\"https:\/\/fallingstar.com\/home.php\"><abbr>ATLAS<\/abbr> (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) telescope<\/a> on Haleakal\u0101 to see if the cluster was also detected. The event was captured by its all-sky camera.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These meteor clusters come from larger parent bodies like asteroids or comets so they can tell us more about the compositions of those larger objects,&rdquo; said <strong>Larry Denneau<\/strong>, an <abbr>ATLAS<\/abbr> project scientist. &ldquo;It\u2019s exciting that we have more &lsquo;eyes on the sky&rsquo; that are able to capture these very short-lived events.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2><span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> leads in near-Earth object detection<\/h2>\n<p>Collaboration between observatories on Maunakea and Haleakal\u0101 is crucial. <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> astronomy plays a vital role in the nation\u2019s planetary defense system. <abbr>IfA<\/abbr>-run telescopes <abbr>ATLAS<\/abbr> and <a href=\"https:\/\/panstarrs.stsci.edu\/\">Pan-STARRS<\/a> on Haleakal\u0101 specialize in the detection of potentially hazardous asteroids. After an asteroid is identified on Maui and appears to be passing close to Earth, telescopes on Maunakea and elsewhere will stop what they are working on and track the object to determine if it is a possible threat.<\/p>\n<p>Closer analysis of the meteor cluster is underway and more in-depth information will be published.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/subarutelescope.org\/en\/\">For more information, go to the Subaru Telescope website.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Subaru Telescope captured footage of more than a dozen meteors within a 10-second window.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[34,292,9,56],"class_list":["post-145891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-astronomy","tag-imiloa-astronomy-center","tag-uh-manoa","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145891"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145900,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145891\/revisions\/145900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}