New Delhi: A glowing, jellyfish-shaped cloud lit up the early-morning sky over parts of the United States on Tuesday, October 13, leaving people wondering what they were seeing. The unusual sight appeared after a SpaceX rocket blasted off from Florida, with its bright, spreading trail resembling a giant jellyfish floating above Earth.
Despite its otherworldly appearance, the phenomenon has a scientific explanation, and it begins with yet another SpaceX launch. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Tuesday at 4:03 pm IST from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying an uncrewed Dragon spacecraft loaded with more than 2,860 kg of scientific experiments, supplies, and equipment for the International Space Station.
The mission, which serves as SpaceX's 35th commercial cargo resupply flight for NASA, also delivered the final pair of new roll-out solar arrays for the orbiting laboratory. The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to reach the station after a journey of about two days, but the launch itself left behind a spectacular view for onlookers on the ground.
The secret behind the space jellyfish was hidden in the timing of the launch. When rockets take off shortly before sunrise or after sunset, the sky at ground level may be dark while sunlight still reaches the rocket high above. As the Falcon 9 climbed, its exhaust plume spread out in the thin upper atmosphere, and sunlight illuminated the expanding gases to create a bright, rounded cloud with long, wispy trails resembling tentacles.
NASA has documented similar views in the past because the glowing plume can be seen across a wide area, sometimes hundreds of kilometers from the launch site. The shape changes rapidly as the exhaust expands and disperses, and the display generally lasts only a few minutes before fading from view.
The space jellyfish is strictly a visual effect rather than a separate object or a mysterious cloud, and its appearance does not indicate any rocket malfunction. While rocket exhaust does contain gases and particles whose environmental impact varies by altitude, the glowing plume primarily offers a remarkable view of the interaction between rocket launches, the upper atmosphere, and sunlight.