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Credit & Copyright: NASA / Jamie Adkins
Explanation:
Four NASA suborbital
sounding rockets leapt
into the night on January 26,
from the University of Alaska's
Poker Flat Research Range.
This time lapse composite image follows all
four launches of the small, multi-stage rockets to explore
winter's mesmerizing,
aurora-filled skies.
During the exposures, stars trailed around the North Celestial Pole,
high above the horizon at the site 30 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.
Lidar, beams of pulsed green lasers,
also left traces through the scene.
Operating successfully, the payloads lofted were two
Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere Turbulence Experiments
(M-TeX)
and two Mesospheric Inversion-layer Stratified Turbulence
(MIST)
experiments,
creating vapor trails
at high altitudes to be tracked by ground-based
observations.
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
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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 - aurora
Publications with words: launch - aurora
See also: