Glowing blue spiral spotted across Europe night sky captivates stargazers
Global News
'The rocket's frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight,' the Met Office explained.
People across Europe witnessed a mysterious glowing blue spiral in the night sky this week, and scientists say they think they know what caused the dazzling formation.
The cloud-like spiral was visible to people from the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, France and more for several minutes on Monday night before fading.
The Met Office, the U.K.’s national weather and climate service, explained in a post on X that the dazzling display was likely caused by frozen exhaust smoke from Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, a reusable, two-stage rocket designed by SpaceX for the transport of people and payloads.
“We’ve received many reports of an illuminated swirl in the sky this evening,” the Met Office wrote on Monday. “The rocket’s frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight, causing it to appear as a spiral in the sky.”
The SpaceX rocket launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday.
“About 8 minutes after liftoff, Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, announcing its arrival with a sonic boom unique to reusable vehicles returning from space,” SpaceX shared in a post on X.
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'The rocket's frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight,' the Met Office explained.
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