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Credit & Copyright: Derek Demeter
(Emil
Buehler Planetarium)
Explanation:
On May 6, the after midnight launch of a
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
lit up dark skies over Merritt Island, planet Earth.
Its second stage
bound
for Earth orbit,
the rocket's arc seems to be on course for the center of the Milky Way in
this pleasing composite image
looking toward the southeast.
Two consecutive exposures made with camera fixed to a tripod
were combined to follow rocket and home galaxy.
A 3 minute long exposure at low sensitivity
allowed the rocket's first stage burn to trace the bright orange
arc and a 30 second exposure at high sensitivity captured the stars and the
faint Milky Way.
Bright orange Mars dominates
the starry sky at the upper right.
A few minutes later, booster engines were restarted and the
Falcon 9's first stage
headed for a
landing on the autonomous spaceport drone ship
Of Course I Still Love You,
patiently waiting in the Atlantic 400 miles east of
the Cape Canaveral launch site.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: launch - Milky Way
Publications with words: launch - Milky Way
See also: