Astrologers in New Zealand were amazed by strange, spiral formations of light in the night sky on Sunday night. The photos were widely shared on social media, with many New Zealanders comparing them to some kind of “wormhole”. However, experts said that these “strange clouds” were caused by the Falcon 9 rocket that carried a Globalstar DM15 satellite. The spectacular spectacle was first recorded by residents of Nelson, a town on the north island of New Zealand, and was visible 750 miles south of Stewart Island. “Does anyone know if there was a satellite orbiting New Zealand tonight or maybe an Australian satellite saw something like the image I posted around 1920 tonight looking slightly west at an elevated Rangiora Canterbury,” Facebook user Inch posted. Justin in Astronomy. in the New Zealand group. “The photo I posted is just an example of what I saw. I could not take a picture of it, I just grabbed my binos and watched what appeared to be a satellite in the middle of the spiral heading north at a high rate of nodes,” he said. further the user. Users flooded the group with comments. “Yes, many of us saw it from Hawke Bay, near the tail of the Canis major, and then moving northeast,” one user commented. “It’s definitely nice,” said another. Professor Richard Easther, a physicist at the University of Auckland, explained the reason behind the phenomenon. Clouds of this nature sometimes appeared when a rocket carried a satellite into orbit, he told the Guardian. “When the propellant is launched from the back, you have what is essentially water and carbon dioxide – which briefly forms a cloud in space when illuminated by the sun,” said Professor Easther. “The geometry of the satellite orbit and also the way we sit in relation to the sun – this combination of things was the right thing to do to create these completely strange clouds that were visible from the South Island.” The New Plymouth Astronomical Society said on Facebook that “it is most likely a ‘fuel dump’ or ‘exhaust cloud’ from a SpaceX rocket launch,” as similar results have been observed in the past. According to Professor Easther, the rocket was the Falcon 9, which SpaceX used to send a satellite into low-Earth orbit on Sunday. SpaceX chief Elon Musk congratulated Falcon on the launch. “Congratulations to the SpaceX Falcon team for making 3 flawless launches in 2 days!” he said on Twitter.
