(VIDEO) SpaceX Pre-Dawn Launch Lights Up Sky With Glowing 'Space Jellyfish' as Cargo Dragon Heads to Space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A SpaceX rocket carrying supplies to the International Space Station lit up the early-morning sky over Florida and much of the Southeast on Tuesday, producing a glowing, tentacled plume that residents described as a "space jellyfish."

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 6:33 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, launching SpaceX's 35th commercial resupply mission to the orbiting laboratory for NASA.

The pre-dawn timing set the stage for the striking visual display, which drew a wave of photos from across Central Florida and was visible as far away as Roanoke, Virginia, more than 500 miles to the north.

What residents saw

People across Central Florida reported seeing a bright, bulb-shaped cloud with wispy trails trailing beneath it as the rocket climbed toward orbit. Photos submitted to Orlando television station WKMG showed the phenomenon from locations including Oviedo, Davenport, Orlando and Lake City.

Some viewers were unsure what they were looking at. One person who submitted an image wrote that the object kept going and then faded out.

The plume was also captured in the sky over Roanoke by a crew outside WSLS-TV, a sister station of WKMG.

The science behind the 'jellyfish'

The effect, which typically occurs when a rocket launches shortly before sunrise or just after sunset, is the result of timing and sunlight.

Although the sky was still dark on the ground, the sun was already shining on the upper atmosphere. As the rocket rose to high altitudes, its exhaust gases expanded rapidly in the thin air and were illuminated by sunlight. That created a glowing, rounded cloud with trailing streaks that resemble the tentacles of a jellyfish.

Because the observer on the ground remains in darkness, the sunlit plume stands out sharply against the night sky, making it appear to glow from within.

The phenomenon depends on clear skies and launch times within a narrow window around dawn or dusk. Launch watchers on Florida's Space Coast had anticipated the possibility ahead of Tuesday's flight, noting that the timing could create a twilight plume if conditions were right.

What the mission is carrying

Beyond the light show, the flight is a routine but important delivery to the space station.

The uncrewed Dragon spacecraft is carrying more than 6,300 pounds, or about 2,860 kilograms, of supplies and hardware. The cargo includes new scientific experiments, supplies for the crew and the final pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays.

The roll-out solar arrays are part of an effort to boost the station's power supply. They are installed over the station's original solar arrays, which have degraded after decades in orbit. With this delivery, NASA will have launched the last of the planned set.

The research aboard Dragon includes biomedical and materials science experiments.

Path to the station

About nine minutes after liftoff, Dragon separated from the rocket's second stage, opened its nosecone and began a series of thruster firings to reach the space station, according to NASA.

The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive Thursday, Oct. 15, and dock to the space-facing port of the station's Harmony module.

Members of NASA's Crew-13, who launched to the station on Oct. 1, will be aboard to unpack the cargo. The station's previous rotation, Crew-12, returned to Earth last week after about eight months in space.

Dragon is expected to remain at the station for about a month before returning to Earth with completed experiments and hardware.

It is the only cargo spacecraft currently serving the station that can bring experiments back to Earth intact, a capability scientists rely on to study samples in laboratories on the ground.

A busy stretch for the station

Tuesday's launch caps a busy period of traffic at the space station, coming shortly after a crew rotation and as NASA continues to supply the orbiting laboratory in its final years of operation.

The International Space Station is scheduled to end its orbital operations at the end of 2030. NASA has been working with commercial companies to develop privately operated space stations to eventually replace it.

SpaceX has flown cargo missions to the station for NASA since 2012. The current missions are flown under NASA's second Commercial Resupply Services contract.

Launch-viewing tips

For those hoping to see a similar display in the future, space and weather experts note that launches scheduled within about an hour before sunrise or after sunset offer the best chance of producing a jellyfish effect, provided skies are clear.

Viewers do not need to be near the launch site to see the phenomenon. Because the plume forms at very high altitudes, it can be visible from hundreds of miles away, as Tuesday's sightings in Virginia demonstrated.

The sight can sometimes lead to reports of unidentified objects in the sky, particularly from people who are unaware a launch is taking place. Space Coast launch schedules are published in advance by NASA, SpaceX and local news outlets, and checking them can help observers know when to look up.