Science & Tech · Space · 1 hr ago
SpaceX rocket plume creates a glowing ‘jellyfish’ in the dawn sky
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Florida before dawn on October 13, carrying a Dragon spacecraft toward the International Space Station.
The flight was an ISS resupply mission, sending supplies to the orbiting station.
As the rocket climbed, its exhaust spread high in the atmosphere and formed a broad plume.
Early sunlight lit the plume, creating a shape that many people called a space jellyfish.
The effect happens because sunlight can reach high-altitude exhaust before the ground is in daylight.
People saw the display across parts of the eastern U.S., with observers able to see it from as far as 800 miles away.
The plume was a temporary effect of the launch, not an object arriving from space.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Florida before dawn on October 13, carrying a Dragon spacecraft on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
The rocket’s exhaust plume caught sunlight high in the atmosphere and appeared as a glowing, jellyfish-shaped cloud.
People reported seeing the display across the eastern United States, with observers able to see it from up to 800 miles away.
The launch had been scheduled for 6:33 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral.
- Who
- SpaceX launched the rocket, and people across the eastern United States reported seeing the plume.
- What
- A Falcon 9 rocket carried a Dragon spacecraft on a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Its exhaust plume appeared as a glowing “jellyfish.
- When
- Before dawn on October 13, 2026; the launch was scheduled for 6:33 a.m. EDT.
- Where
- The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The display was seen across the eastern United States.
- Why
- The plume expanded high in the atmosphere, where the approaching dawn’s sunlight illuminated it.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
FOX 5 Atlanta reported that the launch was scheduled for 6:33 a.m. EDT the following morning.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Florida with a Dragon spacecraft on an ISS resupply mission.
People reported seeing the sunlit rocket plume across the eastern United States.
- Rocket
- SpaceX Falcon 9
- Mission
- Dragon spacecraft resupply mission to the International Space Station
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral, Florida
- Scheduled launch time
- 6:33 a.m. EDT
- Reported viewing distance
- Up to 800 miles
What people are saying
Early Tuesday morning NASA sent up a resupply mission for the ISS atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Posts on X
Early Tuesday morning NASA sent up a resupply mission for the ISS atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. As the spacecraft blasted into orbit, it left behind a cloud of exhaust that caught the first rays of the morning sunlight and created what's called the "jellyfish effect."
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