'Space jellyfish' seen over PH likely caused by Chinese rocket — PhilSA

The glowing lights seen over parts of the Philippines on Tuesday evening were likely caused by the launch of a Chinese rocket, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) said on Wednesday.

In an advisory, PhilSA said the phenomenon observed at about 8:10 p.m. on May 12 was "highly likely" due to the passage of the Long March 6A or Chang Zheng 6A rocket launched by China.

This Chinese rocket was launched from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 7:58 p.m. (Manila time).

"The phenomenon is commonly called a 'space jellyfish', which occurs when a rocket's exhaust plume, released at high altitudes, is directly illuminated by sunlight while observers on the ground remain in darkness," PhilSA said.

"The expanding plume fans out in the thin upper atmosphere and scatters sunlight, creating a luminous, jellyfish-like glow visible over wide areas during twilight conditions," it added.

According to PhilSA, unlike recent rocket launches from China's coastal spaceports, no debris drop zones from this launch were projected over Philippine territory or waters. — VDV, GMA News