APOD: A Galaxy-Shaped Rocket Exhaust Spiral (2024 Mar 12)

[APOD Robot]

A Galaxy-Shaped Rocket Exhaust Spiral

Explanation: What's that over the horizon? What may look like a strangely nearby galaxy is actually a normal rocket's exhaust plume -- but unusually backlit. Although the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, its burned propellant was visible over a much wider area, with the featured photograph being taken from Akureyri, Iceland. The huge spaceship was lifted off a week ago, and the resulting spectacle was captured soon afterward with a single 10-second smartphone exposure, before it quickly dissipated. Like noctilucent clouds, the plume's brightness is caused by the Twilight Effect, where an object is high enough to be illuminated by the twilight Sun, even when the observer on the ground experiences the darkness of night. The spiral shape is likely caused by high winds pushing the expelled gas into the shape of a corkscrew, which, when seen along the trajectory, looks like a spiral. Stars and faint green and red aurora appear in the background of this extraordinary image.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

[Klipsi]

Sorry, you have two wrong explanations here.

It was NOT the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. It couldn't be , since that one launched AFTER this spiral event already had occured , and that one did not fly on an orbit far north enough to reach the high arctic skies.... The fact is , it was from another Falcon9 rocket , which launched from Vandenberg California almost 3 hours before the spiral formed . It carried the Transporter 10 mission, released 53 smallsats while flying on an SSO orbit , and after being done releasing all 53 satellites during the 2nd orbit it started de-orbit burn on stage2 which creates the white cloud.

So why does it take a spiral shape ?

Not from high altitude winds ( there is no wind up in space , except the solar wind ) , so normally the outgassing at Falcon9 stage 2 does not rotate ( I've seen and filmed an outgassing cloud at 2nd orbit almost 2 years ago , see this video from a non-rotating Starlink mission : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_eVWgrNYTM ) . HOWEVER the outgassing cloud does rotate when it is a Transporter mission. Why ? because SpaceX rotates the stage2 in order to release the multiple satellites from various clients in various directions , on different targets. Transporter missions are multisat, smallsat missions for various clients and they are not released all at once , contrary to Starlink. So because the various satellites have different targets the stage2 of the rocket must be re-oriented , rotated, for their release.... so now the rocket is rotating around its axis, and when de-orbit burn and fuel release occurs towards the end of the 2nd orbit it naturally takes the shape of a spiral..

the same event had occured in april 2023 on another Transporter mission, also on SSO orbit, and created a famous big white spiral in the skies of Alaska which was seen by many northern lights photographers. That one was also at the end of 2nd orbit.

I actually predicted this spiral was going to happen. You can read all about it on my FB post here which I published a few hours before the rocket launched from Vandenberg.
https://www.facebook.com/Klipsi/posts/p ... DGBdJNZiQl Please do take the time to read all comments in that post.

I also shared my prediction in 3 aurora-hunting facebook groups, to make them aware of the upcoming spiral, including one group in Iceland, other people saw the same white spiral , see the discussion here https://www.facebook.com/groups/5651702 ... 201120997/

The spiral appeared like I predicted it during the 2nd orbit flying over the arctic. I had also informed an aurorahunting friend in Norway, Bettina Begtoft, to look out for the skies especially during the 2nd orbit when it was most likely to happen, around 2 A.M. local time for Norway, it was exactly then when she saw it and took images ( in her image the young spiral appears blue but that is simply because of the use of a different camera with different sensor and white balance settings, to her eyes it did not appear blue but white ). She sent me the images and I created this animation https://www.instagram.com/p/C4KrmdQt5Zg/ ,
also shared on FB : https://www.facebook.com/reel/1076408323585236

Next spiral prediction : The next Transporter mission is T-11 in July so it will probably not be seen as it is not dark enough in the arctic... but the following Transporter missions are most likely to be producing beautiful spirals again : October 2024 should get Transporter 12 and February 2025 should get Transporter 13 , and you will probably see photos and reports of strange spirals in the arctic skies by people who are out watching the northern lights.

please feel free to ask for any further info you might need.

Kind regards,

Olivier Staiger
Switzerland.

[JimB]

Sorry, you have two wrong explanations here.

It was NOT the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. It couldn't be , since that one launched AFTER this spiral event already had occured , and that one did not fly on an orbit far north enough to reach the high arctic skies.... The fact is , it was from another Falcon9 rocket....
...
I created this animation https://www.instagram.com/p/C4KrmdQt5Zg/
...
Kind regards,

Olivier Staiger
Switzerland.

Great correction! In the original description, it didn't seen right to me given that propellant from the launch in Florida would be visible in Iceland.

Hopefully it will be amended.

Interesting time lapse - definitely a candidate UFO!

[Jim Armstrong]

I wish there was some control over Elon Musk's messy ways.

[RJN]

Sorry, you have two wrong explanations here.

It was NOT the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. It couldn't be , since that one launched AFTER this spiral event already had occured , and that one did not fly on an orbit far north enough to reach the high arctic skies.... The fact is , it was from another Falcon9 rocket , which launched from Vandenberg California almost 3 hours before the spiral formed . It carried the Transporter 10 mission, released 53 smallsats while flying on an SSO orbit , and after being done releasing all 53 satellites during the 2nd orbit it started de-orbit burn on stage2 which creates the white cloud.

So why does it take a spiral shape ?

Not from high altitude winds ( there is no wind up in space , except the solar wind ) , so normally the outgassing at Falcon9 stage 2 does not rotate ( I've seen and filmed an outgassing cloud at 2nd orbit almost 2 years ago , see this video from a non-rotating Starlink mission : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_eVWgrNYTM ) . HOWEVER the outgassing cloud does rotate when it is a Transporter mission. Why ? because SpaceX rotates the stage2 in order to release the multiple satellites from various clients in various directions , on different targets. Transporter missions are multisat, smallsat missions for various clients and they are not released all at once , contrary to Starlink. So because the various satellites have different targets the stage2 of the rocket must be re-oriented , rotated, for their release.... so now the rocket is rotating around its axis, and when de-orbit burn and fuel release occurs towards the end of the 2nd orbit it naturally takes the shape of a spiral..

the same event had occured in april 2023 on another Transporter mission, also on SSO orbit, and created a famous big white spiral in the skies of Alaska which was seen by many northern lights photographers. That one was also at the end of 2nd orbit.

I actually predicted this spiral was going to happen. You can read all about it on my FB post here which I published a few hours before the rocket launched from Vandenberg.
https://www.facebook.com/Klipsi/posts/p ... DGBdJNZiQl Please do take the time to read all comments in that post.

I also shared my prediction in 3 aurora-hunting facebook groups, to make them aware of the upcoming spiral, including one group in Iceland, other people saw the same white spiral , see the discussion here https://www.facebook.com/groups/5651702 ... 201120997/

The spiral appeared like I predicted it during the 2nd orbit flying over the arctic. I had also informed an aurorahunting friend in Norway, Bettina Begtoft, to look out for the skies especially during the 2nd orbit when it was most likely to happen, around 2 A.M. local time for Norway, it was exactly then when she saw it and took images ( in her image the young spiral appears blue but that is simply because of the use of a different camera with different sensor and white balance settings, to her eyes it did not appear blue but white ). She sent me the images and I created this animation https://www.instagram.com/p/C4KrmdQt5Zg/ ,
also shared on FB : https://www.facebook.com/reel/1076408323585236

Next spiral prediction : The next Transporter mission is T-11 in July so it will probably not be seen as it is not dark enough in the arctic... but the following Transporter missions are most likely to be producing beautiful spirals again : October 2024 should get Transporter 12 and February 2025 should get Transporter 13 , and you will probably see photos and reports of strange spirals in the arctic skies by people who are out watching the northern lights.

please feel free to ask for any further info you might need.

Kind regards,

Olivier Staiger
Switzerland.

Thank you! I did not realize that different Falcon rockets were launched so close togther in time! Therefore, when I found one Falcon launch, I just assumed that was the one that created the spiral. Nice work! I have now updated the text on the main NASA APOD.

- RJN

[MelvzLuster]

It's a sign we are destined to travel from star to star & from galaxy to galaxy as the Universe planned from the beginning of our existence. It is also a sign that we are on the right track in our lives.

[chicgarlic]

Sorry, you have two wrong explanations here.

It was NOT the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. It couldn't be , since that one launched AFTER this spiral event already had occured , and that one did not fly on an orbit far north enough to reach the high arctic skies.... The fact is , it was from another Falcon9 rocket , which launched from Vandenberg California almost 3 hours before the spiral formed . It carried the Transporter 10 mission, released 53 smallsats while flying on an SSO orbit , and after being done releasing all 53 satellites during the 2nd orbit it started de-orbit burn on stage2 which creates the white cloud.

So why does it take a spiral shape ?

Not from high altitude winds ( there is no wind up in space , except the solar wind ) , so normally the outgassing at Falcon9 stage 2 does not rotate ( I've seen and filmed an outgassing cloud at 2nd orbit almost 2 years ago , see this video from a non-rotating Starlink mission : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_eVWgrNYTM ) . HOWEVER the outgassing cloud does rotate when it is a Transporter mission. Why ? because SpaceX rotates the stage2 in order to release the multiple satellites from various clients in various directions , on different targets. Transporter missions are multisat, smallsat missions for various clients and they are not released all at once , contrary to Starlink. So because the various satellites have different targets the stage2 of the rocket must be re-oriented , rotated, for their release.... so now the rocket is rotating around its axis, and when de-orbit burn and fuel release occurs towards the end of the 2nd orbit it naturally takes the shape of a spiral..

the same event had occured in april 2023 on another Transporter mission, also on SSO orbit, and created a famous big white spiral in the skies of Alaska which was seen by many northern lights photographers. That one was also at the end of 2nd orbit.

I actually predicted this spiral was going to happen. You can read all about it on my FB post here which I published a few hours before the rocket launched from Vandenberg.
https://www.facebook.com/Klipsi/posts/p ... DGBdJNZiQl Please do take the time to read all comments in that post.

I also shared my prediction in 3 aurora-hunting facebook groups, to make them aware of the upcoming spiral, including one group in Iceland, other people saw the same white spiral , see the discussion here https://www.facebook.com/groups/5651702 ... 201120997/

The spiral appeared like I predicted it during the 2nd orbit flying over the arctic. I had also informed an aurorahunting friend in Norway, Bettina Begtoft, to look out for the skies especially during the 2nd orbit when it was most likely to happen, around 2 A.M. local time for Norway, it was exactly then when she saw it and took images ( in her image the young spiral appears blue but that is simply because of the use of a different camera with different sensor and white balance settings, to her eyes it did not appear blue but white ). She sent me the images and I created this animation https://www.instagram.com/p/C4KrmdQt5Zg/ ,
also shared on FB : https://www.facebook.com/reel/1076408323585236

Next spiral prediction : The next Transporter mission is T-11 in July so it will probably not be seen as it is not dark enough in the arctic... but the following Transporter missions are most likely to be producing beautiful spirals again : October 2024 should get Transporter 12 and February 2025 should get Transporter 13 , and you will probably see photos and reports of strange spirals in the arctic skies by people who are out watching the northern lights.

please feel free to ask for any further info you might need.

Kind regards,

Olivier Staiger
Switzerland.

It was surprising to me that multiple Falcon rockets were fired at such close intervals. I thought that was wrong in the original description because you could see the propellant from the Florida launch in Iceland.