Amateur astronomers spotted a rare cluster of meteors

Astronomers have recorded a new cluster of meteoroids, a rare phenomenon that occurs when a celestial body falls apart just before meeting with the Earth.

It was first spotted by space lovers who watched the live feed from the Subaru telescope camera in Hawaii.

Sometimes in the sky there can be observed not one, but a group (up to several dozen pieces) of meteors, which are localized in a certain area of ​​the sky and appear in a short period of time.

This rare event, called a meteoroid cluster, is believed to occur when the progenitor bodies of meteors disintegrate into fragments just before they meet Earth.

The first was detected during the Leonids meteor shower in 1997, and since then only a few cases have been recorded, for example, during the Epsilon-Perseids meteor shower in 2016.

In the early morning of July 14, 2021, a Subaru-Asahi Sky Camera (SASC) mounted on the dome of the Subaru telescope in Hawaii recorded a new meteoroid cluster

More than a dozen meteors flew in the same direction in just 10 seconds.

It is noteworthy that the first to notice the phenomenon was ordinary space lovers, who watched the live broadcast from the camera, available online.

The discussion of this event was noticed by professional astronomers working at the telescope, who analyzed the recording and gave it a scientific basis.

Source:

• Subaru Telescope: https://subarutelescope.org/en/news/topics/2021/08/03/2971.html

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