NASA
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Hi all!
I'm going to see *hopefully knock on wood* my first space launch this week at the KSC for the launch of Falcon 9 SES-18 and SES-19. I was curious about what causes the jellyfish plume effect you see on the second stage of Falcon 9 at night. The launch is 10 minutes after sunset on a hopefully mostly clear night. From what I understand upper-level light reflects off the gas plume from the rocket. So would shortly after sunset on a clear night cause this?
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/06/1097089192/space-jellyfish-spacex
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