SpaceX/Falcon 9 De-Orbit Burn

April 13, 2024 / Add comment

I have posted several images here of the launch of SpaceX/Falcon 9 rockets from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. These are easy to see during morning and evening twilight hours. They are less easy to see at night and quite difficult (but not impossible) to see during the day.

SpaceX/Falcon 9 de-orbit burn on the second stage booster as it flies over the southwest United States. The start of the burn can be seen in the upper portion of the image where it increases quickly in brightness.

Until recently, I had never seen nor photographed a de-orbit burn on the second stage in preparation for atmospheric reentry. A few photographs have shown up from time to time—the most recent from a launch just a few weeks ago. It turns out that yesterday’s launch (12 April) was very similar: launch from Florida in the early evening, deploy Starlink satellites while over the Pacific Ocean, and then initiate a de-orbit burn as it crosses the west coast and moves across the southwest.

With this information I made a guess at what time the Falcon 9 second stage would move over Arizona and start the burn. I was only off by a few minutes so it was a good guess.

I shot with a wide-angle lens to ensure that my field of view was wide enough to capture the event (it was, until it moved overhead). We could see a small point of light that was both the cluster of 23 Starlink satellites and the second stage booster. Suddenly, it brightened significantly signaling the start of the burn. It was very bright as it moved overhead. At this point, I was not able to photograph it anymore. And that’s too bad because that’s when it got really interesting. For about 20–30 seconds it was like a puff of glowing gas moving across the sky. Really amazing! It ended quickly as the booster moved into Earth’s shadow and the light show was over.

I will probably do things differently if I get another chance. Maybe shoot video? Telephoto lens? Shorter exposures? All or none of the above?

Twilight Launch from Vandenberg Space Flight Base

April 7, 2024 / 2 Comments

There was yet another twilight launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Flight Base on Saturday evening. These launches can be magnificent to watch as the expanding gases from the rocket exhaust are illuminated by the sun–already well below the horizon. It lights up bright at first then slowly dims as the exhaust thins and spreads across the sky and the sun drops lower. The clouds can be colorful much like noctilucent clouds (“night shining clouds”).

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Flight Base. The image was shot from within the San Francisco Volcanic Fields.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Flight Base.

Noctilucent clouds from the rocket exhaust linger into twilight.

And here a two time-lapse sequences of the rocket and the noctilucent clouds.

Time lapse of the SpaceX Falcon 9 accelerating across the western sky.

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Time lapse of the expanding noctilucent cloud in the western sky.

The cadence of launches is increasing and we will see many more of these in the weeks and months. Hopefully, some of them will be during twilight.

Bonus: while watching we saw a fireball cross the sky from low in the east, moving overhead, then finally ending in the west. It was so bright that you almost felt that you could reach out and grab it. Wow!

Comets, Sunspots, and Zodiacal Light

April 1, 2024 / Add comment

There have been few opportunities for capturing night sky objects owing to clouds and the presence of the Moon. That doesn’t stop me from trying.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and Triangulum Galaxy (M33).

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and M33 (Triangulam Galaxy).

Clouds, a bright waxing Moon, and some distant light pollution made it difficult to capture this comet. This was taken at the base of Arizona Snowbowl ski area at 2830 m; the elevation helps to get above some of the atmospheric haze.

Sunspots AR3615 and AR3614

Several large sunspots are visible on the face of the Sun (27 March 2024).

Zodiacal Light

While setting up to photograph a launch at Vandenberg SFB (which was scrubbed), I fired off a few test shots of the zodiacal light. In review, I noticed that I also captured Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. Small–very small–when shot with a 24mm wide-angle lens.

Now, the Moon is out of the way and the forecast indicates a few clear nights so maybe I’ll get another change to shoot some images of the comet.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

March 13, 2024

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks remains in the western sky–visible as twilight fades. But don’t wait too long in the evening or it gets too low in the western sky and becomes difficult to see. Also, it requires long exposure photographs or binoculars/telescope to see. There are projections that it may brighten to become just barely visible to the unaided eye in a few weeks.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on 09 March 2024. This is a single image taken with a 500mm telephoto lens.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) on 04 March 2024. Stack of 13 x 120 second images.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on 09 March 2024. A stack of images with Max value so that satellite tracks are not removed.

I’ve had several opportunities recently to photography the comet including its positioning in the sky near the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). A normal to short telephoto lens (i.e, ~50 to 85mm) was a good choice for capturing both objects while a longer telephoto (i.e., 180mm or even 500mm) worked best for isolating the comet.

Bonus photo: Andromeda Galaxy (M31) taken 13 January 2020.

Of course, the comet is not the only object in the sky. Satellites are constantly moving across the sky. Fortunately, software can remove the tracks by stacking multiple photographs and taking the Median or the Mean value at each pixel. On the other hand, it can be useful to take the Max value at each pixel to illustrate the number of satellites crossing even a small portion of the sky in a short period of time.

Run, Bike, Ski

March 2, 2024

It’s great that one can do all three of these in the winter. Ski in Flagstaff; run and mountain bike in the deserts. We have done all three this winter with the emphasis on running. Here are a collection of photos from this winter.

Group of runners stand around pools of water (01/20/2024).

X-C skiing at Fort Tuthill (02/09/2024).

Trail run on Sketch Trail, Sedona (02/13/2024).

Snowy run on Schultz Pass Road (02/15/2024).

Trail run on Margs Draw, Sedona (02/17/2024).

Mountain biking on Little Rock Trail, Sedona (02/20/2024).

Trail run on Lower Chimney Trail, Flagstaff (02/22/2024).

Trail run on Woods Canyon Trail, Sedona (03/02/2024).

Bonus photo from last year’s epic winter. Yeah, untracked powder!

Preparing to descend Flying Dutchman chute, Mt. Humphreys (01/18/2023).