I was down at the beach for sunset, Crystal Cove of course... there was a feature on the horizon that looked like a rocket on the horizon.
The contrail went straight up. I suppose the curvature of the Earth could have been playing an optical illusion, but this looked like something directly behind Catalina Island.
Sounds like something from Vandenberg. In my youth we used to watch launches from over the mountains in Bakersfield, if that gives you an indication of the viewing range possibilities. We have a launch facility here on Kodiak Island, and people in Dillingham (roughly 150 miles away) report watching launches.
I was in Laguna Beach and saw the contrail. I thought it was up pretty high as it caught the later sunset light but the color faded pretty much after the sun had set so it wasn't too high. It didn't get the distortion that the upper atmosphere launches get so I think it was just some high flying jet, probably military. Pure speculation of course.
It occurs to me that I no longer know California geography well to estimate your location, but the appearance of rocket contrials depends hugely on viewing angle and distance. Basically the closer you are, the straighter it all looks and the less you see. It also depends on whether you are looking straight along the path of the rocket or viewing from the side. The launches I have shot are over quickly (generally competely out of sight in around 5 seconds) and the contrail looks fairly short as lower level smoke obscures what's going on at higher elevations. It can take a while for the bending and twisting that Timothy shows to develop, and it never looks that extensive up close. But things get really wild when you move back or see it pass horizon-to-horizon overhead or from the side. Time of day gets interesting too, because they go so high, even rising above the curve of the earth to catch sunlight long after dark on the surface.
With so many variables the best way to "confirm or deny" whether it was a launch is to check information sites for Vandenberg, Lockhead Martin, or nearby Lompoc. There are usually announcement of one sort or another leading up to and following launches. If you knew where to look, there would also have been some kind of notice to mariners posted by the Coast Guard regarding and offshore safey corridor closure.
Discussion
8 repliesThe contrail went straight up. I suppose the curvature of the Earth could have been playing an optical illusion, but this looked like something directly behind Catalina Island.
Did anyone else see this?
No launches at Vandenberg recently, I check for them because they make for interesting atmospheric displays that are usually not in a straight line.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/launchlog.html
even "classified" launches have to be made public due to air traffic concerns.
Warren
It occurs to me that I no longer know California geography well to estimate your location, but the appearance of rocket contrials depends hugely on viewing angle and distance. Basically the closer you are, the straighter it all looks and the less you see. It also depends on whether you are looking straight along the path of the rocket or viewing from the side. The launches I have shot are over quickly (generally competely out of sight in around 5 seconds) and the contrail looks fairly short as lower level smoke obscures what's going on at higher elevations. It can take a while for the bending and twisting that Timothy shows to develop, and it never looks that extensive up close. But things get really wild when you move back or see it pass horizon-to-horizon overhead or from the side. Time of day gets interesting too, because they go so high, even rising above the curve of the earth to catch sunlight long after dark on the surface.
With so many variables the best way to "confirm or deny" whether it was a launch is to check information sites for Vandenberg, Lockhead Martin, or nearby Lompoc. There are usually announcement of one sort or another leading up to and following launches. If you knew where to look, there would also have been some kind of notice to mariners posted by the Coast Guard regarding and offshore safey corridor closure.