Bloody sky! Firefly Alpha rocket blasts hole in ionosphere; Reason to worry? Watch Video

Bloody sky! Firefly Alpha rocket blasts hole in ionosphere; Reason to worry? Watch Video

The Firefly Alpha rocket blasted a hole in the sky, painting the ionosphere a bloody red, and it can affect GPS, satellites and radio communications. And health?

Firefly Alpha rocket punched a hole in the sky, painting the sky blood red. Ionosphere damaged. Reason to worry? Watch the video shared by astronomer. (Firefly Aerospace)

Firefly Aerospace launched its latest Alpha rocket on July 3 from the Vandenburg Space Force base, California and the impact in the sky was shockingly vivid. The Firefly Alpha rocket simply blasted a massive hole in the sky and left behind a huge reddish hue in the ionosphere. It painted the sky in bloody red hues. And almost the whole thing was captured by astronomer David Blanchard of Flagstaff, Arizona, a video of which he has shared. You can watch the video later in the article.

The red hole in the ionosphere may not amount to much when it happens quite infrequently, but of late it has become a matter to worry about as these rocket launches are getting more frequent, especially with Elon Musk-led SpaceX carrying out a huge number of Starlink launches. These red holes in the sky have been snapped regularly by astronomers when SpaceX rockets are launched.

The ionosphere is a protective layer enveloping the Earth and any lasting damage to it can have wide-ranging effects. The Ionosphere stretches between 80 to about 600 km. The importance of the ionosphere lies in the fact that it reflects back to Earth and modifies radio waves used for radio communication, satellite communication and GPS. So, when a hole is punctured into the ionosphere, all such operations may be impacted as shortwave signals shoot through the hole instead of being reflected back to Earth.

Watch video as Firefly Alpha rocket punches a hole in the ionosphere:

Firefly Alpha Punches a Hole in the Ionosphere from Earth to Sky Calculus on Vimeo.

Another skywatcher who captured this red splotch in the sky was Kamala Venkatesh in Julian, California, on July 19, 2023. “I had just shot the SpaceX launch over the right side of the lake. I was prepared to capture the Milky Way, which I did. However, I saw a big blob of red in my images. It had been a while since SpaceX had passed. The glow faded as the night went by. It was so strong while it lasted that the water and sky looked red,” Venkatesh said at the time.

How holes in the sky affect radio and other communications

Fortunately, the holes in the sky is filled up soon by the Sun and there is no negative impact on human health. While these holes appear not to leave any lasting damage, researchers are worried that the exhaust plumes may be causing massive pollution in the entire atmosphere.