There’s yet another reason for Californians to keep an eye on the night sky this week. In addition to the annual Perseid shower, a man-made space phenomenon will light up our nights. Experts say there’s a high chance of spotting a “space jellyfish,” a surreal sight that occurs when sunlight reflects off the exhaust plumes of a recently launched rocket during evening or early morning twilight. Tonight, the SpaceX Starlink launch could create a stunning ‘space jellyfish’ in the night sky, experts predict. X/@spacejellyalert As the rocket ascends into the upper atmosphere, the exhaust lights up as decreasing temperatures convert water vapor into ice crystals that trail behind the rocket. The effect creates the appearance of an otherworldly form of jellyfish to those observing from the relative darkness of Earth. The nature of these columns varies from colorful to white, depending on the time of release. Morning typically produces white jellies, while twilight releases can create a more rainbow or iridescent quality. These sky shapes typically appear after the launch of a SpaceX rocket, specifically a Falcon 9 rocket launched at either of SpaceX’s two facilities in Florida or the Southern California base. Space Jellyfish Alerts, a website that estimates the probability of a rocket launch producing a jellyfish, has shared that tonight’s Starlink launch could lead to the phenomenon. Starlink 17-49 will launch tonight at 8:00 pm PDT and enter sunlight approximately 40 seconds after liftoff. The nature of these jellyfish varies from colorful to white, depending on the time of release. Morning typically produces white jellies, while twilight releases can create a more rainbow or iridescent quality. Space.com You can find detailed location-based predictions here. Space Jellyfish Alerts notes that local skyglow could interfere with visibility. Owned by Elon Musk, SpaceX, which has made its polarizing founder the world’s first billionaire, harbors big ambitions such as building data centers in space and colonizing Mars. The jellyfish proliferation comes after a newsworthy week for SpaceX. On Tuesday, SpaceX showed off its first report card since its successful market debut in June, posting a 92% increase in revenue despite losing $541 million in the second quarter. On Wednesday it was reported that a piece of a SpaceX rocket crashed into the moon at high speed. A space jellyfish is seen over Central Florida after the launch of another batch of Starlink satellites by SpaceX. (Tribune News Service) TNS Also on Wednesday, SpaceX shares plunged nearly 14% after it revealed a massive increase in spending on AI investments. On Thursday, Musk announced plans to build Terafab, “the largest and most valuable building on Earth by far.” Terafab, a semiconductor megafactory built jointly by Tesla and SpaceX, will rise in Grimes County, Texas, outside of Houston, with a first-phase price tag of $16.8 billion. “It will be incredibly beautiful,” Musk wrote on here!Home Delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!
