Tag: September

Morning Launch

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Nothing like a rocket launch in the early morning to inspire and wake you up.  The 4 Million Newtons of thrust and a weight of over 500 tons gives a nice blast of power to your morning that coffee never could.  I am talking about the Atlas V rocket that launched on September 2nd, carrying a US Navy communications satellite up into orbit. There is a lot happening in this medium exposure photo.  The rocket blasts off in a bright flash, then climbs into the atmosphere, where its exhaust plume becomes a noctilucent cloud, illuminated by the Sun that hasn’t...

Planets to See: September 2015

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Lovely Earth is not entirely lonely.  We have five planets that have been observed since the dawn of civilization.  The five are visible with the naked eye in the sky at different times of year, and were given the name planets as a derivation of the Greek ‘planetes,’ meaning ‘wanderers.’  They do wander, or at least they appear to move against the background of the stars, since they are much closer to the Earth as it orbits the Sun. So what planets are visible this month? For September 2015 and back to school, you had better be willing to get...