I saw the same display in the SE skies from Elmont, Virginia (37.7122°N, 77.5256°W). Quite a show! Conditions here were less than perfect - some scattered cumulus clouds as well as a high thin haze. Begin forwarded message: > Resent-From: SeeSat-L@satobs.org > From: <Skywayinc@aol.com> > Date: September 19, 2009 8:25:24 PM EDT > To: <SeeSat-L@satobs.org> > Subject: Wallops Island Notilucent Cloud Experiment > > This evening, NASA launched a Black Brant Rocket from Wallops Island, > Virginia in order > to attempt to create an artificial noctilucent cloud from a point > roughly > 100 miles east > of Wallops and at an altitude of about 170 miles. I had alerted my > television audience last > night on News 12 about the launch and posted a blog about it both > at the > News 12 site > and also at the Hayden Planetarium. > > I wasn't exactly sure what we would see from the New York Tri-State > Area, > but my wife, > Renate and I were on the lookout, directing our attention toward an > area > about 20 to 30 > degrees above the southern horizon. Our location was Putnam > Valley, NY, > about 50 miles > north of Manhattan. Skies were perfectly clear with excellent > transparency. > > The Black Brant Rocket lifted off from wallops on schedule at 7:46 > p.m. EDT > > Six minutes later at 7:52 p.m. my wife and I, saw a brilliant > object, of > at least > magnitude -3 to -4, displaying a wide, fan-shaped tail . . . like a > comet > . . . appearing above > the Teapot asterism in Sagittarius. > > The "tail" was pointing downward and gradually lengthened to about > 10 or > 15-degrees > and widened to about 5 or 10 degrees over a span of about 30 seconds. > > It was all so quick! > > The "head" of the comet (which was the rocket's fourth stage) > rapidly faded > out and the "tail" gradually faded over the next minute or so into > the > background of > the sky. I should note that my southern sky suffers from > considerable > light pollution, so > the residual glow probably disappeared more quickly as opposed to a > completely dark > sky. Even with 7X binoculars, it was difficult to discern after > about a > minute or so. > > It was very impressive . . . albeit short-lived. > I'm sure many people along the US East Coast were surprised by this > strange sight! > > -- joe rao > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L > archive: > http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html > > -- David Tiller Sr. Architect/Lead Consultant | CapTech Ventures (804) 304-0638 | dtiller@captechventures.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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