APOD: SpaceX Rocket Launch Plume over... (2017 Dec 24)

[APOD Robot]

SpaceX Rocket Launch Plume over California

Explanation: What's happened to the sky? On Friday, the photogenic launch plume from a SpaceX rocket launch created quite a spectacle over parts of southern California and Arizona. Looking at times like a giant space fish, the impressive rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, California, was so bright because it was backlit by the setting Sun. Lifting off during a minuscule one-second launch window, the Falcon 9 rocket successfully delivered to low Earth orbit ten Iridium NEXT satellites that are part of a developing global communications network. The plume from the first stage is seen on the right, while the soaring upper stage rocket is seen at the apex of the plume toward the left. Several good videos of the launch were taken. The featured image was captured from Orange County, California, in a 2.5 second duration exposure.

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[madtom1999]

So what is (or what causes) the central blob about a 1/3rd the way down the main plume?

[Boomer12k]

Awesome....

Merry Xmas All...
:---[===] *

[Guest]

Falcon 9, but not Heavy.

[Case]

… that are part of a developing global communications network.

Fascinating to see the deployment of the 10 satellites. Also awesome how they managed to put extra hosted payload on them, to monitor planes and ships. Makes me wonder, once fully operational, would this have sped up the search effort for MH370? Seems to me like it could, as it could work out of range of land based receivers. (ADS-B is far from fool-proof though, as it has no authentication, and it is not required yet for all airplanes.)

[Case]

Falcon 9, but not Heavy.

Well spotted, can’t be both: Falcon Heavy is a different beast. Falcon Heavy hasn’t been launched yet. Demo launch now scheduled for January 2018.

[Iron Mouse]

I'd like to know more about the one-second launch window.

[Chris Peterson]

I'd like to know more about the one-second launch window.

Probably related to the complex final orbital pattern of the Iridium satellites.

[RJN]

Falcon 9, but not Heavy.

Thanks. Yes, it was "just" a Falcon 9 and not a Falcon 9 Heavy. My mistake. I have now updated the APOD.

- RJN

[BDanielMayfield]

From the location of both the launch and the photographer it appears that this could have been a north to south polar trajectory. Was that the case?

[Chris Peterson]

From the location of both the launch and the photographer it appears that this could have been a north to south polar trajectory. Was that the case?

Iridium satellites are in nearly, but not quite polar orbits.

[geckzilla]

Falcon 9, but not Heavy.

Thanks. Yes, it was "just" a Falcon 9 and not a Falcon 9 Heavy. My mistake. I have now updated the APOD.

- RJN

My mistake, too.

[MarkBour]

So what is (or what causes) the central blob about a 1/3rd the way down the main plume?

I'd certainly be interested in this, too. It makes for a nice "eye", when one imagines the shape is a large fish. But it was strange to watch it evolving quite a bit, almost like a booster had fallen away and was still burning. But I have to realize I have never seen a rocket plume lit by the sun in this unique way before. Maybe such a central vortex is a commonplace from rocket exhaust that we never saw. It looks pretty strange, though. Part of the time, it looks like someone is blowing smoke rings.

EDIT: I just watched a recent SpaceX launch video. I believe the small plume in the middle of the main plume is Stage 1 of the Falcon doing a "boost-back" maneuver. It happens pretty shortly after the first stage separates from the ongoing Stage 2. That would explain it, it is another rocket burn. I am told they did not actually save the first stage this time, but I still think it did a post-separation burn. I don't know why. Perhaps to stabilize re-entry or perhaps, even though they were not recovering it, they needed to position its re-entry location a bit.

[geckzilla]

Here's a photo with some things labeled:
https://twitter.com/SpaceY_UK/status/944911802630066176
Photo by Joshua Berson

[ta152h0]

So this is not a University of California student prank ?

[geckzilla]

Another great video of the event.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[BillBixby]

Another great video of the event.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

G, thank you.

[ta152h0]

Imagine a rocket cam video of this

[neufer]

---

[Chris Peterson]

Imagine a rocket cam video of this

If you go to the SpaceX site you can see the entire launch and deployment sequence, including from cameras on the rocket. Really, from that view you don't see much. It is most impressive from a distance. Kind of like the way galaxies are impressive from a distance, and just a vague gray band when you are inside them.

[MarkBour]

Imagine a rocket cam video of this

If you go to the SpaceX site you can see the entire launch and deployment sequence, including from cameras on the rocket. Really, from that view you don't see much. It is most impressive from a distance. Kind of like the way galaxies are impressive from a distance, and just a vague gray band when you are inside them.

To each his own? I really enjoyed watching the Iridium sats floating free from the rocket. At one point near the end, you see several of them all deployed, trailing off into the distance, like a string of pearls. But perhaps what ta152h0 wanted to see was an artificial reverse sunset from the view of the rocket.

[Chris Peterson]

If you go to the SpaceX site you can see the entire launch and deployment sequence, including from cameras on the rocket. Really, from that view you don't see much. It is most impressive from a distance. Kind of like the way galaxies are impressive from a distance, and just a vague gray band when you are inside them.

To each his own? I really enjoyed watching the Iridium sats floating free from the rocket. At one point near the end, you see several of them all deployed, trailing off into the distance, like a string of pearls. But perhaps what ta152h0 wanted to see was an artificial reverse sunset from the view of the rocket.

Sorry, didn't mean to suggest that the rocket cam video isn't neat. Only that it isn't a good platform for seeing the light show in the sky.