サンタのそりには、早すぎるよね

ヨーロッパ南天天文台（ESO）のパラナル天文台（チリ）のカメラが、明るい線を描く物体をとらえ、その原因を究明する話が、同天文台のウェブに載っていました。
結局、このミステリーの犯人は、日本が種子島宇宙センターから「きく８号」を載せて打ち上げたH-2Aロケットだったようです。

これが18日のことで、この記事につけたタイトルが「サンタのそりには、早すぎるよね」です。
洒落ていますね。

ところで、ソルトレイクシティのサンタは今年もソルトレイク上空を飛べたのだろうか？

It Is Too Early To Be Santa's Sleigh, Isn't It?
Astronomers at ESO's frontline Paranal Observatory got a surprise on the morning of 18 December when looking at the observatory's all-sky camera, MASCOT. For about 45 minutes in the early morning, an object appeared first as a bright stripe then as a cloud that dissolved.
The discovery was made a little after 4 o'clock in the morning (7:00 GMT) by Christian Esparza, the operator of Antu, the first Unit Telescope (UT1) of ESO's Very Large Telescope who showed it to ESO astronomer Thomas Rivinius. Looking at the Mini All-Sky Cloud Observation Tool (MASCOT [1]), Esparza was surprised by the presence of a nebular object.
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The launch took place from the Tanegashima Space Center at 3:32 p.m. on December 18, 2006, Japan Standard Time (that is 3:32 a.m. Chilean time or 6:32 a.m. GMT). The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and, at 27 minutes and 35 seconds after lift-off, the KIKU No. 8 separation was confirmed. The Santiago station (in Chile) started receiving signals from the KIKU No. 8 at 4:27 a.m. Chilean Time.
Finally the mystery was solved: the object was most probably the 2nd stage of the launcher and the cloudy appearance at the end of the sequence most likely a dump of liquid fuel, made to avoid the explosion of the rocket in hundreds of scattered pieces, as a result of leftover fuel inside spent rocket stages. Having cracked the problem with his colleagues, Thomas Rivinius could finally go to sleep!
2006/12/20／European Organisation for Astronomical Research