ORLANDO, Fla. – Viewers across Florida’s east coast have been asking about the strange glowing clouds that appeared in the sky just before sunrise Thursday morning.
While it wasn’t any alien activity, it does have to do with space!
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying another batch of Starlink internet satellites, launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:57 a.m. Thursday.
As the rocket climbed into the upper atmosphere, it released exhaust made mostly of water vapor and carbon dioxide. In the cold, thin air high above Earth, that hot exhaust rapidly cooled and condensed into tiny ice crystals and vapor clouds.
These types of clouds are called ‘noctilucent clouds’.
Because the launch took place just before sunrise, sunlight was already reaching those high-altitude clouds while the ground below remained in darkness.
This caused the lingering water vapor from the rocket to be illuminated against the pre-dawn sunlight.
These bright plumes often linger for about 30-60 minutes as they are shaped and stretched by upper-level winds.
We would love to see your photos of these cool clouds! Send them our way by pinning them on clickorlando.com/pins
[WATCH THE LAUNCH BELOW!]