| Nightfall
2015 On Saturday night (Nov. 7) the Navy launched a missile from a submarine during a hush-hush exercise. It was launched from just off the coast and headed west. The exhaust plum was quite bright and generated a lot of excitement as it rose in the western sky. It's always difficult to figure out the direction, but the exhaust flame plume was a bright pinpoint which gave the clue that it was moving away from us. There was a lot of moisture in the air and the plume grew to cover about 1/3 of the western sky. The fellow next to me had a 12" Dob and actually watched as the first boost stage separated and fell away. I was actually a bit alarmed at first as the fast growing plume looked just like the expanding shock wave of a nuclear detonation. Glad it wasn't!!! Here are some links to some interesting videos and articles. |