CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — First Coast News Weather watchers caught a unique site over the First Coast Sunday night as a Falcon 9 carrying the latest star link satellites split the atmosphere creating a rocket plume
This is not the first time we have seen this but it’s not terribly common either. The atmosphere needs to be just right for it to form and further more viewing conditions need to be good with a visual of most of the eastern sky from the First Coast.
The plume is the visual formation of hot rocket exhaust as it climbs through the atmosphere. It can even contain visual shock waves as the space ship becomes supersonic.
The higher the altitude is reached the large the plume becomes. This is thanks to fewer molecules in the atmosphere allowing for a freer path for the plume to expand. Sometimes getting several miles across.
If you ever catch a photo like this or anything interesting in the atmosphere you can share your images via the First Coast News Weather Watchers Facebook Page or via using the near me function of the FCN APP.