08/29/2026
Be careful when you are out back around our campfire looking at the beautiful night sky you might have to hear about my version of this event which I just happened to see on a Saturday Night in August.
SpaceX Jellyfish Spotted at Bayside Astronomy Saturday Aug 15, 2026!
Wow, what a night we had at Bayside Astronomy on Saturday August 15th in Lions Head. Not only were the skies pretty clear with amazing views of the Milky Way and a crescent moon below Venus at sunset, but we also had the tail end of the Perseids meteor shower, and Saturn showing up around 11:30pm. We had people who hung around and talked and looked through our scopes until then, just get some views of Saturn.
But the most amazing sight of the new was due to SpaceX. They launched a Globalstar 2-R Mission 1 at 9:12 p.m from Cape Canaveral with replacement satellites to replenish Globalstar's low-Earth orbit communication constellation. The result was something called the SpaceX or Starlink jellyfish.
The jellyfish is caused by exhaust fumes expansion from the Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket engines release water vapour and carbon dioxide into the thin air of the upper atmosphere, which then crystallizes. The high-altitude gas plume reflects the sun when it is still dark on the ground. The ice crystals and expanding gases create glowing blue, orange, and pink halos that drift like tentacles.
I must admit, it looked to many of us like an alien spacecraft right out of the movies! Despite the light pollution being caused by all of these satellites being launched, it was a very cool sight.
