Jellyfish is a common sight off the coast of Florida — but now, unexpectedly, from the Kennedy Space Center, a unique "jellyfish" sight from the latest rocket launch has been observed. On Friday morning local time, the SpaceX launch produced a visual phenomenon known as a "space jellyfish," which brought a striking sight to early people watching the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket: In the pre-dawn darkness, an ethereal cloud of glowing gas was highlighted.
Space jellyfish occur when rockets take off at dawn or dusk. When the spacecraft reached altitude, the sunlight illuminated a wisp of gas on its tail. This effect is similar to the bells and tentacles of jellyfish.
Friday's effect varies depending on where people stand when they see the rocket. As the images posted online show, some observers see a horizontal silver stripe, while others see what looks like a wavy glowing cloud.
While the space jellyfish effect only evokes animals, actual jellyfish have also visited space. In 1991, NAS sent thousands of small jellyfish into orbit with the Space Shuttle Columbia to study their response to microgravity.