It looked like a bizarre alignment of meteors. It was something else.

Aug. 11, 2023
Terry Ward, National Geographic
This long-exposure image, taken shortly before sunrise, shows stars appearing to “trail” around the south celestial pole (at the center of the circles) above the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR Telescope)

This long-exposure image, taken shortly before sunrise, shows stars appearing to “trail” around the south celestial pole (at the center of the circles) above the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR Telescope). A few airplanes, shooting stars and satellite trails are also faintly visible.
CTIO/NOIRLab/SOAR/NSF/AURA/M. Paredes, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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