Is it a space jellyfish? Is it an alien? No, it’s the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket launch!
What is it?
Have you ever looked up and thought, “Why is there a giant glowing jellyfish cloud in the sky?” If so, chances are that you’ve seen the remnants of a rocket launch, and not a surprise alien visitor.
In the early hours of July 9, SpaceX launched 29 of its Starlink broadband satellites from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to low Earth orbit. It was the rocket’s 36th flight, a record.
The rocket lifted off at 5:25 a.m. EDT (0925 GMT), and the scene it painted in the dark early-morning sky looks truly out of this world. But there is a practical, Earthly explanation.
When a Falcon 9 rocket takes off, its engines expel water vapor and carbon dioxide. As it climbs higher into the sky, the temperature drops and the water vapor quickly freezes, forming ice crystals that trail behind the rocket in the spectacular plume we’re seeing here. And this view is made more colorful and striking by the sunlight of early morning.
Why is it incredible?
While this photograph’s beauty speaks for itself, it is also a colorful example of how real scientific moments can spark the imagination.
Do you think it looks like a jellyfish? I think it looks like a comb jelly, which isn’t actually a jellyfish but rather a different type of transparent, squishy invertebrate that drifts through the ocean. It could also look like a glowing football or even a mythological monster.
Whatever you think it looks like, while we have a real scientific explanation for why this rocket launch was followed by a giant, glowing, uniquely shaped cloud, it’s still fun to use our imagination.