SpaceX Falcon 9 launch creates ‘space jellyfish’

Elon Musk's SpaceX launched its latest cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday morning, Oct. 13.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched a robotic Dragon capsule on a 53-hour journey to the ISS at around 6:30 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

But it wasn't the launch that captured people's interest. Photos sent to Talk to the Press show a glowing "space jellyfish" that wowed launch spectators.

The bluish-white blob that covered the sky resembles a jellyfish. This happens during a Falcon 9 rocket launch, and it's because the rocket's engines expel water vapor and carbon dioxide.

As the rocket climbs higher into the sky, the temperature drops and water vapor freezes quickly, forming ice crystals that trail behind the rocket.