SpaceX Rocket’s ‘Jellyfish’ Plume Seen Over Area

A glowing, expanding trail illuminated the early morning sky over Bucks County on Tuesday.

Residents in Levittown and Solebury Township shared images of the luminous display that they saw around 5:45 a.m.

The phenomenon, which is often referred to as a “jellyfish” plume because of its distinctive shape, was the result of an unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The “jellyfish” effect occurs when the rocket’s exhaust vapor is struck by high-altitude sunlight while the ground remains in relative darkness.

The Tuesday launch represented the 37th Falcon 9 flight of the year, according to SpaceFlightNow.

The rocket carried 29 Starlink internet satellites into orbit, a payload that included SpaceX’s 1,000th satellite.

The East Coast launch was followed by another SpaceX mission on Wednesday morning, which launched from the West Coast.

Observations of rocket launches from Florida and Wallops Island, Virginia, have grown in the Philadelphia area over the last decade as the frequency of missions continues to rise.