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Glowing spiral resembling a portal to a new galaxy dazzles in the Alaskan night sky


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An odd spiral resembling a portal to another galaxy offered a dazzling display to anyone who caught a glimpse in the Alaskan night sky over  weekend.

The light green and baby blue whirlpool-like cloud appeared amid the aurora for a few minutes early Saturday morning. The event was caused by a SpaceX rocket that launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

SpaceX launched the rocket about three hours before the dancing spiral appeared, which released excess fuel dumped into the atmosphere that turned to ice.

The spiral was visible because water vapor reflected the sunlight in the atmosphere, a research associate professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute told the Associated Press.

Space physicist Don Hampton said he’s witnessed the uncommon spiral phenomenon about three times. 

Although it's not a galaxy, images of the spiral created “a bit of an Internet storm” and were shared widely on social media.

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Camille Fine is a trending visual producer on Paste BN's NOW team.