“Unraveling the Mystery: What Caused the Enigmatic Glowing Spiral Over the UK Last Night?”
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered if you were witnessing a cosmic spectacle, or perhaps something out of a sci-fi flick? Well, last night across the UK, folks were treated to a breathtaking glowing spiral that left many scratching their heads, pondering if aliens had finally decided to drop by for a visit. But before you grab your tinfoil hat, it turns out this awe-inspiring sight had a much more earthly explanation. The Met Office stepped in to demystify the phenomenon, revealing that this mesmerizing spiral was actually the frozen exhaust plume of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, making its way back to Earth. Buckle up as we dive into this celestial confusion that blended a little bit of space magic with the science of rocket returns! LEARN MORE.
If you cast your gaze skyward last night you might have had the joy of looking upon a phenomenal sight that appeared not to be of this world.
While you can sometimes see the moon and stars in the night’s sky, if you’re in a spot without serious light pollution it’s rare to spot anything else up there among the cosmos.
A whole load of Brits gazed up at a swirling spiral in wonderment, enraptured by the mystery and majesty.
Of course plenty more then immediately hopped onto the internet to ask everyone else exactly what they’d just seen and the actual answer is not quite as mysterious as all that.
What we saw was the consequence of a Falcon 9 rocket returning to Earth and dumping fuel (Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
It turns out that the glowing swirl in the sky is actually from a spacecraft, and one of man-made origin rather than some alien vessel.
The Met Office took to social media to explain the whole thing, explaining that it was actually the ‘frozen exhaust plume’ of a SpaceX rocket that was launched yesterday (24 March).
They said: “This is likely to be caused by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launched earlier today.
“The rocket’s frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight, causing it to appear as a spiral in the sky.”
So there you have it folks, that strange spiral glowing in the sky is the consequence of a rocket launch, and the verdict was confirmed by Britain’s favourite science man Professor Brian Cox.
It’s impressive, and there is also an interesting reason why the pattern was in a spiral formation.
The rocket that launched was called a Falcon 9, which blasts up to space, delivers whatever it was supposed to be taking up there beyond our planet and then returns to Earth.
So far, so normal for space travel.
But the reason for the swirling spiral is because on the rocket’s return to Earth it ejects leftover fuel that could cause damage on re-entry and isn’t needed anymore.
This is something a number of spacecraft do to avoid the possibility of the excess fuel exploding, and as for why there’s excess fuel you’d rather have too much and not need it than too little and have to tell Houston you have a problem.
The fuel freezes pretty much instantly and looks like a spiral because of the way the rocket moves, and when light reflects off the spiral us Earthlings on the ground get a pretty show in the sky.
Featured Image Credit: X/RCGT4_
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