A SpaceX rocket provided a stunning pre-dawn display over Florida as a huge, luminescent “jellyfish cloud” stretched for miles, caused by an expanding plume of fuel exhaust crystallizing in the sky and reflecting sunlight off frozen particles. The phenomenon occurred shortly after Tuesday’s 6:33 a.m. ET launch of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying cargo to the International Space Station. The moment of liftoff, 48 minutes before dawn at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, provided a perfect example of the colorful effect only fully visible from Earth during dusk and dawn launches. The rocket’s northeastern trajectory over the Atlantic also allowed residents of the eastern states, from Georgia to New York, to enjoy the spectacle. NASA posted photos of the jellyfish cloud on X, the social media platform owned by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Among the hundreds of responses were images taken by skywatchers in several states. Those who missed Tuesday’s dazzling celestial spectacle have another chance to see one next Monday, Oct. 19, when another SpaceX Falcon 9 is scheduled to take off from the same Space Force station pad.
