Astronomers in Japan believe green laser-lights spotted over Hawaii last month were beamed down by a Chinese weather satellite.
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan posted video online of a string of lights in the sky filmed by a camera atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s tallest mountain on Jan. 28. The organization’s researchers said NASA’s ICESAT-2 satellite’s topographic laser, used to monitor sea ice and forests, was responsible for the light show.
But NOAJ added a correction to its YouTube post saying their satellite wasn’t the cause of lasers over Hawaii, Vice noted this week. Rather, “the most likely candidate,” according to the updated video, was a Chinese Daqi-1/AEMS satellite launched last year. It’s used to track nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and ozone, as well as carbon dioxide” the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said in a 2021 press release.
