A mysterious blue spiral emerged in the skies of Norway on Monday leaving stargazers surprised for a while only to be later revealed it was something else.
The same spiral was also seen thousands of kilometres away in Iceland. Analysis later confirmed it was not a galaxy that had suddenly emerged in the skies, instead, it was something that was man-made.
This spiral was the result of a SpaceX Falcon-9 launch that left behind a stunning display in the skies for astrophotographers and aurora captures on the upper latitudes of the planet.
"To the naked eye, it looked white, but my Nikon D750 camera revealed the beautiful blue colour. I noticed it at 2:02 am local time," Begtoft told spaceweather.com.
WHAT IS THE SPACEX SPIRAL?
The phenomenon occurred approximately an hour after SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday.
The rocket, on a mission named Transporter-10, carried 53 small satellites into Earth's orbit.
As the discarded second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket passed over the Barents Sea, it executed a de-orbit burn, resulting in an unexpected display.
The exhaust gases, subjected to a bit of spin, transformed into a striking spiral pattern visible from Begtoft and even as far away as Iceland, where Aurora photographer Shang Yang captured the celestial event.
These mesmerising spirals are becoming routine occurrences associated with SpaceX operations, observed after various Falcon 9 launches worldwide.
Astronomer Olivier Staiger, who accurately predicted the March 5th spiral, explained that during rideshare missions like Transporter-10, where multiple satellites have diverse destinations, SpaceX rotates the 2nd stage for deployment. Consequently, the stage remains in rotation during the de-orbit burn, creating a distinctive spiral shape.
SpaceX said that it was the fifth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, and one Starlink mission. On board this flight were 53 spacecraft, including CubeSats, MicroSats, and a hosted payload.
