Early risers across parts of New Zealand were treated to a "space jellyfish" this morning - the aftermath of a Rocket Lab launch streaking across the sky.
A Rocket Lab spokesperson told 1News the 'Owl New World' Electron successfully completed a launch at 5.33am from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A on the Māhia Peninsula.
"Funnily enough, what residents are likely seeing is commonly known as a space jellyfish which is a phenomenon that can happen when sunlight reflects off the exhaust plume from the rocket’s engines," the spokesperson said.
It was pictured streaking across the early morning sky and shared by many on social media, with some questioning exactly what they were seeing.
"Came out and had missed the explosion itself, but witnessed the most amazing dispercing of the light over about 4mins. Never seen anything like it. Keen to know what it was," one person asked.
Another mused: "I saw the unusual circles looked like the contrail from a small aircraft or… UFO."
Damon Douglas told 1News he was "just getting the cows in" near Ōtorohanga when he looked up and saw the strange shape in the sky.
"I thought 'what the hell's going on here?'" he laughed.
'Owl New World' was Rocket Lab's next dedicated Electron launch for Synspective, a leading Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite data and analytics company from Japan.
It marked Rocket Lab's seventh launch for Synspective and the first in a series of 21 upcoming missions to deploy the company’s Earth-imaging constellation before the end of the decade.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including calls for driving fines to go up, how a doorbell leaked politicians’ phone numbers, and a scary moment at a gorilla enclosure. (Source: 1News)
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