Jeff Baumgardner, a senior research scientist from Boston University, made the comments to Spaceweather. Ionospheric holes have become more common as record numbers of rockets are launched, the report said. The holes are temporary as reionization occurs when the sun rises.
A picture of the incident was captured by photographer Jeremy Perez on July 19 after SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from a base in California. SpaceX's Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed to reliably transport people and cargo into orbit.
The photograph, which was featured in the article, showed a red fluorescent glow that Perez said "expanded southward and crossed over the Milky Way." He said the glow was visible for around 20 minutes after the launch.
Baumgardner said the phenomenon was "well-studied" and can occur when "rockets are burning their engines 200 to 300 km above Earth's surface."
"The red glow appears when exhaust gasses from the rocket's 2nd stage cause the ionosphere to recombine quickly," he said, referring to a photograph.
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A picture of the incident was captured by photographer Jeremy Perez on July 19 after SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from a base in California. SpaceX's Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed to reliably transport people and cargo into orbit.
The photograph, which was featured in the article, showed a red fluorescent glow that Perez said "expanded southward and crossed over the Milky Way." He said the glow was visible for around 20 minutes after the launch.
Baumgardner said the phenomenon was "well-studied" and can occur when "rockets are burning their engines 200 to 300 km above Earth's surface."
"The red glow appears when exhaust gasses from the rocket's 2nd stage cause the ionosphere to recombine quickly," he said, referring to a photograph.
A physicist says it's 'quite possible' a SpaceX launch punched a hole in parts of the Earth's atmosphere
Jeff Baumgardner, a physicist from Boston University, discussed the possibility of ionospheric holes occurring with Spaceweather.com
