‘Space Jelly Fish’ Light Up the Sky After Early Morning Space X Rocket Launch

Screenshot via X

At least no one has a chance of stepping on these “jelly fish.”

A curious effect bloomed in the predawn skies over Florida Tuesday immediately following a Space X rocket launch.

Residents in the Tampa Bay area documented a light-colored blob in the still-dark skies that media reports claimed looked like a jelly fish.

Photos showed the “space jelly fish,” which appeared just after the CRS-35 launch, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay:

Dozens of people across the Bay Area caught a glimpse of the glowing phenomenon following the launch. The effect occurs around dawn or dusk when a rocket climbs high enough into the sky to catch sunlight, even while people on the ground are still in darkness. As sunlight hits the expanding exhaust plume of the rocket, it creates a bright, glowing cloud against the dark sky.

Video posted to X also captured the atmospheric phenomenon.

It’s pretty much impossible to predict when “space jelly fish” might appear, according to reports.

The Space X launch occurred at 6:33 a.m. and was a Commercial Resupply Services mission for the International Space Station. It’s expected to be on a 52-hour flight and reach the space station on Thursday.

“CRS-35 is the fourth flight for the Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission, which previously flew CRS-26, CRS-29, and CRS-33 to and from the space station,” according to Space X.

The Kennedy Space Center also posted about the “jelly fish.”

“Many of you are talking about the “space jellyfish” following this morning’s launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. More than 6,300 scientific investigations and cargo are on their way to the @Space_Station, as part of SpaceX’s 35th commercial resupply services mission for NASA. A jellyfish happens near sunrise or sunset when the exhaust plume from the rocket becomes brightly illuminated, creating a glowing shape resembling a jellyfish. Show us where you captured the jellyfish?” the center posted to X.

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