Jeremy Perez
Supporter
So who else in the western states was surprised to see this glowing in the western sky a little after 02Z Saturday night?
Sounds like the Navy announced that this was a Trident II (D5) missile test flight that was launched at sea off the southern California coast. This was seen from Flagstaff, Arizona. I think I saw a photo from as far east as Taos, New Mexico.
If I had known this was going to happen, I would have headed out to a better spot and started shooting earlier in the launch. These are amazing when they happen right after sunset looking toward the west or before sunset looking toward the east. The exhaust from the launch expands quickly once the vehicle rises above the dense, lower levels of the atmosphere. In this shot, a more concentrated stream of fuel/exhaust glows as a streak of blue-green while the missile itself continues to spew exhaust as a more white-ish fan toward the right side of the halo.
![img20151107_20151107-IMG_2148_lg.jpg img20151107_20151107-IMG_2148_lg.jpg](https://stormtrack.org/data/attachments/10/10630-60c886d48b5c4052989848eb1d4ac298.jpg)
Sounds like the Navy announced that this was a Trident II (D5) missile test flight that was launched at sea off the southern California coast. This was seen from Flagstaff, Arizona. I think I saw a photo from as far east as Taos, New Mexico.
If I had known this was going to happen, I would have headed out to a better spot and started shooting earlier in the launch. These are amazing when they happen right after sunset looking toward the west or before sunset looking toward the east. The exhaust from the launch expands quickly once the vehicle rises above the dense, lower levels of the atmosphere. In this shot, a more concentrated stream of fuel/exhaust glows as a streak of blue-green while the missile itself continues to spew exhaust as a more white-ish fan toward the right side of the halo.