A SpaceX rocket bound for the International Space Station left behind a striking glow in the sky after liftoff early Tuesday morning.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched at 6:33 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, “carrying more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and hardware” on a delivery run to the International Space Station, NASA said.
“The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will carry new scientific experiments, cargo, and the final pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays to the orbiting laboratory,” officials said.
But did you see the awesome “jellyfish cloud” the rocket left behind?
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We got a photo from one viewer who said she was walking her dog in Ocala when she saw the cloud.
Viewers called into NBC6 to report the blue-ish light. We got a photo from one viewer who said she was walking her dog in Ocala when she saw the alien-looking cloud.
NBC6 meteorologist Chelsea Ambriz explained earlier this year what causes this phenomenon, including that the famed “jellyfish cloud” is actually called noctilucent cloud.
“It looks like something extraterrestrial,” she said after a launch in early March, “and that is just that exhaust being seen from the rocket as it is moving through the atmosphere.”
It only happens during rocket launches right before or right after sunrise, so as the sun comes over the horizon, it illuminates the exhaust.