Image Credit & Copyright: Abe Blair (Abe Blair Gallery)
Sunday, November 15, 2015
NASA Photo of the Day
November 11:
An Unexpected Rocket Plume over San Francisco
Image Credit & Copyright: Abe Blair (Abe Blair Gallery)
Explanation:
What is that unusual light in the sky?
A common question, this particular light was not only bright but moving and expanding.
It appeared just as the astrophotographer and his friend were photographing the
Golden Gate Bridge in
San Francisco,
California against a more predictable night sky.
They were not alone in seeing
this unusual display -- at least hundreds of people in California reported a similar sight.
The consensus of
experienced sky observers was that the
plume resulted from a rocket launch -- an explanation that was
soon confirmed as an unpublicized test of a
submarine-launched, unarmed,
Trident II D5 nuclear missile.
Such tests are not uncommon but do not usually occur just after
sunset
near a major metropolitan area -- when they are
particularly noticeable to many people.
Were plume images not posted to
the Internet and quickly identified, such a sky spectacle might have been understood by some to be associated with
more grandiose -- but incorrect -- explanations.
Image Credit & Copyright: Abe Blair (Abe Blair Gallery)
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A Trident D5 missile can destroy a city block, even without a warhead. It is launched from beneath the surface of the ocean so the topside deck doesn't get welded shut. Trident submarines do not even submerge until they are in thousands of feet of water. There is abso-freaking-lutely no way the Navy would ever test this missile, any missile, in that place. Shame on whoever made up this story and/or this photo. -- Trident Submariner, ETRO
ReplyDeleteWell, whatever the real story is, the Navy seems to be claiming it. http://defensetech.org/2015/11/09/navy-launches-second-ballistic-missile-test-in-pacific/
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