Such a phenomenon occurs when spacecraft are launched shortly after sunset or before sunrise. The cloud of gases ejected by the launch vehicle's engines is illuminated by the Sun's rays.

The "Bion-M No. 2" spacecraft atop a "Soyuz-2-1b" launch vehicle was launched at 20:13:10 Moscow time. The flight path passed over Kazakhstan, the Chelyabinsk region, the Sverdlovsk region, the Perm Krai, and the Komi Republic.

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