SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch Sparks 'Space Jellyfish' Across 4 Southeastern States After 6:04 a.m. Liftoff
Updated
Updated · WSB Atlanta · May 21
SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch Sparks 'Space Jellyfish' Across 4 Southeastern States After 6:04 a.m. Liftoff
8 articles · Updated · WSB Atlanta · May 21
A Falcon 9 launch from central Florida just after 6:04 a.m. Thursday produced a glowing "space jellyfish" visible across parts of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Brad Nitz of WSB-TV said the effect forms when rocket exhaust rapidly expands in the thin upper atmosphere, then catches rising sunlight at higher altitude and lights up in a jellyfish-like shape.
The phenomenon is limited to launches timed just before sunrise or just after sunset, when the rocket is sunlit while the ground below remains relatively dark.
As 'space jellyfish' become common, what unseen atmospheric damage follows these beautiful displays?
Who will regulate the atmospheric pollution from private space companies as launches skyrocket?
Is global satellite internet worth the permanent pollution of our upper atmosphere and night sky?