SpaceX Launch Paints Glowing ‘Space Jellyfish’ Over Florida

A glowing, jellyfish-shaped plume spread across the dawn sky over Southwest Florida after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the state’s east coast.

X user Lynne filmed the spectacle on the morning of October 20 and posted four clips. They show the rocket’s white exhaust trail climbing into the sky, then a bright point of light trailing a wide, fan-shaped glow, with homes and palm trees silhouetted against the sunrise.

The Falcon 9 lifted off at 7:04 a.m. from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission, carrying 32 payloads into orbit. Its first stage later landed on a droneship in the Atlantic.

The “space jellyfish” effect happens when sunlight hits the rocket’s exhaust high in the atmosphere while the ground below is still in darkness, making the expanding gases glow. Residents across Central and South Florida reported seeing it.