VAN HORN, TX - A rare and luminous cloud formation, typically seen in polar regions, was spotted over West Texas early Monday morning.
Experts believe the phenomenon, resembling noctilucent clouds (NLCs), was created by exhaust from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Rare Night-Shining Clouds Seen Over West Texas Town (Anthony Griffith)
The wispy, glowing silvery-blue clouds were photographed by skywatcher Anthony Griffith in Van Horn, Texas.
“About 45 minutes before sunrise, these clouds appeared, looking very similar to NLCs,” Griffith told Spaceweather.com.
Typically, NLCs form in Earth’s mesosphere—about 50 miles high—when temperatures are extremely cold, making their appearance at a lower altitude in Texas unusual.
Rare Night-Shining Clouds Seen Over West Texas Town (Anthony Griffith)
SpaceX launched 20 Starlink satellites from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base six hours before the clouds were observed. According to Spaceweather.com, Falcon 9 rocket engines release water vapor during launches, which can mix with meteor dust at high altitudes to create NLC-like clouds.
“Winds high in the atmosphere could have easily blown some of the rocket exhaust from California to Texas,” stated Cora Randall, a noctilucent cloud expert at the University of Colorado.
While these man-made NLCs are rare in Texas, this is not the first instance this year. In March, similar clouds were spotted near Lubbock after another Falcon 9 launch from Florida.
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Post a comment to this article here: