Last night astronomers from the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute and a visiting group from Sixth Penwortham (St Mary’s) Cubs working towards their Space Badge were treated to a rare astronomical fireworks display. While making the most of the clear skies to observe Jupiter and the Orion nebula a strange sight appeared in the North Western sky. A cloud with a bright light at the center appeared, at first looking like an aircraft with landing lights passing through a cloud. It gradually grew until, as it passed overhead, it had formed a spiral pattern in the sky. This phenomenon was caused by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket dumping excess fuel as it pushes its payload to its final orbit. The fuel freezes and then reflects sunlight back to Earth creating the impressive light show.
See also: SpaceX launch: Glowing spiral seen above UK skies – BBC News
Image credit: Dr Mark Norris, Dr Daniel Brown