Sightings2023

Glowing spiral in Alaska's aurora traced to a SpaceX fuel dump

Name: Glowing spiral in Alaska's aurora traced to a SpaceX fuel dump
Start: 2023-04-15
Location: Interior Alaska

When: 15 Apr 2023
Where: Interior Alaska
Sources: 2 public sources

Aurora over interior Alaska, where a SpaceX fuel dump made a glowing spiral in April 2023 United States Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A swirling light photographed amid the northern lights over Alaska was explained by University of Alaska Fairbanks physicist Don Hampton as fuel vented by a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage about three hours after a California launch, freezing into ice that caught sunlight.

Sources

PressRocket science: Alaska sky spiral caused by SpaceX fuel dump (Mark Thiessen, AP) (opens in a new tab)Associated Press (via KRGV) / 2023-04-18
Press'Mysterious spiral' that looks like hazy, glowing galaxy seen hovering in Alaska's northern lights (opens in a new tab)CBS News / 2023-04-18

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Where it fits

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