JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Wednesday morning, simply after a rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Station at 5:13 a.m., skywatchers in Northeast Florida witnessed a shocking spectacle within the twilight sky.
Glowing, wispy clouds that appeared to shimmer within the pre-dawn gentle weren’t extraordinary climate phenomena; they had been the results of rocket vapor trails, making a phenomenon generally known as noctilucent clouds.
📸 Upload your pictures and movies on SnapJAX!
Noctilucent clouds, also known as polar mesospheric clouds, are high-altitude clouds that type within the mesosphere, round 30 to 50 miles above the Earth’s floor.
They can sometimes be seen after sundown or earlier than dawn as a result of the ice crystal clouds stay illuminated by the angled solar’s rays under the horizon.
When a rocket ascends into the mesosphere, it releases water vapor and different exhaust merchandise. Under the appropriate situations, these vapors can freeze into tiny ice crystals, which type trails of luminous clouds.
SpaceX’s frequent launches from Florida have offered many alternatives for the general public to witness this phenomenon.
This morning’s sighting in Jacksonville was an ideal instance of how rocket vapor trails can create spectacular noctilucent clouds. As viewers gazed upward, they noticed the ethereal glowing vapor trails towards the backdrop of the early morning sky, with hues of orange and pink.
Copyright 2024 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
