Unmanned ship filming ‘space jellyfish’ at launch of a SpaceX rocket

During the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket last Saturday Five minutes after sunset A rare phenomenon occurred where all the factors must fit together to make it visible: “Space Jellyfish”. This happens when physical forces and perfect timing come together.

Necessary special lighting conditions

On Saturday, the missile took off from Cape Canaveral Space Station (CCSFS) As the sun was setting. The rocket was moving east toward the darkness, but its altitude soon put it directly behind the sun. The effect of dimming the sky then led to a rare phenomenon in which a spaceship resembles a jellyfish.

The rare phenomenon was good one hundred miles (about 160 km) It can be seen far in every direction, and thus has been photographed many times, including once unmanned shipas posted by Chris Bergen on Twitter.

jellyfish shape

The bulbous shape of this object is due to the pressure differences between the atmosphere and the rocket’s fuel tank. The exhaust gases flowing from the turbine are subjected to tremendous pressure, which is much higher than the pressure of air in the atmosphere. In order to reach the same pressure as the environment, the exhaust gases expand and expand at lightning speed.