A rocket jellyfish: a glowing twilight launch plume

Rocket jellyfish forecast

See the next
rocket jellyfish

Why it glows →

Photo: Iridium‑4 plume, Kevin Gill, CC BY 2.0

Upcoming launches · next 4 weeks

Enter a location to see what you can see.

This is the jellyfishReal photos
Rocket jellyfish photo: CRS-35 · Oct 13, 2026
CRS-35 · Oct 13, 2026Strumtastic16 · CC0
Rocket jellyfish photo: Iridium-4 over Los Angeles · 2017
Iridium-4 over Los Angeles · 2017Kevin Gill · CC BY 2.0
Rocket jellyfish photo: Inspiration4 · 2021
Inspiration4 · 2021ZLEA · CC0
Rocket jellyfish photo: April 22, 2026
April 22, 2026Karaj28 · CC BY 4.0
Rocket jellyfish photo: Crew-2 · 2021
Crew-2 · 2021ZLEA · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rocket jellyfish photo: Space jellyfish
Space jellyfishOdalagerJ · CC0
Spectators watching a Space Shuttle launch across the water
Watch it together

A few minutes
you’ll all remember

  1. 01Head out 10 minutes early.
  2. 02Find a clear, low view in the arrow’s direction.
  3. 03Phones away. Let your eyes adjust.
  4. 04It glows for only a few minutes.
  5. 05Blanket. Cocoa. Look up.
  6. 06Snap one photo, then just watch.
How it works

Sunlight, high up.
Darkness, down here.

Within minutes a rocket climbs above 100 km. Up there it can still be in sunlight while your sky is dark, which lights the exhaust into a glowing “jellyfish.”

Best odds: launches 30–120 minutes before your sunrise or after your sunset, within about 1,000–1,500 km of the pad.

Estimate only. We model a typical Falcon 9 ascent along a likely direction, then check what clears your horizon and what is in sunlight. Clouds, haze and delays matter.