Friday, November 5, 2010

Tonight's Delta II Launch - as seen from Palomar

A Delta II rocket was launched tonight from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Here is the view from the catwalk of the 200-inch Hale Telescope:



Click to embiggen (full resolution version is here). Light pollution and cirrus clouds dampened the view somewhat. The top photo is 3 30 second exposures combined. The rocket trail is the line beneath the clouds.


This one is just a 30-second exposure. A higher resolution version of the image is here.

2 comments:

Dennis Mammana said...

Scott--

About as good a shot as anyone could have taken with the clouds and light pollution from SD. So what's this word "embiggen"? :) That's funny!

Palomar Observatory said...

Dennis, Embiggen is a word that came out of an episode of The Simpsons. :)