A rare atmospheric phenomenon was witnessed in Northeast Florida on Wednesday morning after a rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Station at 5:13 a.m. Skywatchers saw glowing, wispy clouds that seemed to shimmer in the pre-dawn light – noctilucent clouds.
Also known as polar mesospheric clouds, these high-altitude clouds form around 30-50 miles above the Earth’s surface and are typically seen after sunset or before sunrise due to sunlight illuminating ice crystal clouds below the horizon.
The rocket vapor trails from SpaceX’s recent launch provided the perfect conditions for this phenomenon. As the vapors froze into tiny ice crystals, they created luminous trails of cloud that gazed like ethereal glowing vapor against the morning sky’s backdrop, with hues of orange and pink.
Source: https://www.news4jax.com/weather/2024/12/04/did-you-see-the-noctilucent-clouds-wednesdays-spacex-launch-leaves-behind-stunning-sky-show-in-florida