Editorial, CNBC Indonesia
Tech
Monday, 04/12/2023 20:40 WIB
Photo: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on May 21, 2023 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Getty Images/Joe Raedle)
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Astronomers discovered a new type of “aurora” created by Elon Musk’s rocket. The hue created by the hole in the ionosphere is thought to cause unknown problems.
The phenomenon of holes in the sky due to being penetrated by rockets has long been known by researchers. Holes are created in the part of the atmosphere between 80-644 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, which is called the ionosphere. Holes in the ionosphere make surrounding gas molecules react and then trigger red lines, like aurora lights.
In July, for example, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket created a hole over Arizona that made the sky appear to bleed. In September, a rocket belonging to the US army space unit, Space Force, created an ionospheric hole over California.
Now, astronomers at the McDonald Observatory in Texas have discovered a new phenomenon, namely a unique red line of light that appeared long after the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. This light is smaller and more circular in shape. Researchers think the light emerged from a Falcon 9 booster rocket that fell to Earth after being separated from the rocket.
A SpaceX booster falling from orbit ejects fuel in the atmosphere to adjust its fall position into the Atlantic Ocean.
Astronomers first noted this phenomenon in February. Now, Stephen Hummer from the McDonald Observatory states that the bloody sky phenomenon occurs 2 to 5 times every month.
The red ball was “very bright” and “easily visible with the naked eye,” Hummer said.
Both rockets launching into space and boosters falling to Earth create holes because they release fuel into the ionosphere. This fuel causes the ionized oxygen atoms to recombine into gas molecules.
This change makes the molecule active and emits red light. This process is similar to the gas reaction caused by solar radiation which causes auroras.
Both rockets and auroras create holes in the middle of the plasma. However, the molecules turn back into ions in just 10-20 minutes, which makes the hole close again.
Hummel said the hole from the SpaceX booster did not cause any harm to humans or other life on Earth. “However, the astronomical impact is still being evaluated,” he said.
Changes in the ionosphere have the potential to interfere with shortwave radio communications and even interfere with GPS signals.
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2023-12-04 13:40:00
#Sky #Blood #Red #Due #Elon #Musks #Rockets #Concerned #Members
