WAussie
08-01-2022, 08:29 PM
Hi,
I'm new to Ice and Space and I'm wondering if anyone else saw the James Webb Space Telescope rocket trailing its emission after launch?
I had some good views of Comet Leonard on the night of Christmas with binoculars and my 20 × 80 spotting scope, which my Mum used to see it as well. The tail was about 4 degrees long and I had a very close up view in my 14 inch scope - quite spectacular.
As a Christmas bonus, my Mum and I saw the trail from the rocket carrying the James Webb Space Telescope as it drifted slowly across the sky.
It was a bright narrow V in the Northwest at first (around 9:30 pm WST) around 3 or 4 degrees long. We thought it was jet contrails at first, but there were no flashing lights visible. As it came higher the V shaped tail became broader and in my 20 x 80 scope I could see a faint point of light ahead of the cloud - separated by a small gap.
Eventually the cloud became circular and quite faint and appeared to stop moving about 2 degrees north-east of Gamma Ceti. This was at 10 pm, which is when I packed up the scope. Presumably this was when the second stage was placed onto a parking orbit after it separated from the JWST itself.
The launch time was 8:20 pm WST on the 25th so the timings are right for the JWST.
I'm near Margaret River WA in a dark sky site, so it was readily visible - much brighter than Comet Leonard, which was only just a naked eye object then. However, the rocket plume may not have been visible from cities due to light pollution.
This was a once in a lifetime sight - I'm glad I saw it!
I'm new to Ice and Space and I'm wondering if anyone else saw the James Webb Space Telescope rocket trailing its emission after launch?
I had some good views of Comet Leonard on the night of Christmas with binoculars and my 20 × 80 spotting scope, which my Mum used to see it as well. The tail was about 4 degrees long and I had a very close up view in my 14 inch scope - quite spectacular.
As a Christmas bonus, my Mum and I saw the trail from the rocket carrying the James Webb Space Telescope as it drifted slowly across the sky.
It was a bright narrow V in the Northwest at first (around 9:30 pm WST) around 3 or 4 degrees long. We thought it was jet contrails at first, but there were no flashing lights visible. As it came higher the V shaped tail became broader and in my 20 x 80 scope I could see a faint point of light ahead of the cloud - separated by a small gap.
Eventually the cloud became circular and quite faint and appeared to stop moving about 2 degrees north-east of Gamma Ceti. This was at 10 pm, which is when I packed up the scope. Presumably this was when the second stage was placed onto a parking orbit after it separated from the JWST itself.
The launch time was 8:20 pm WST on the 25th so the timings are right for the JWST.
I'm near Margaret River WA in a dark sky site, so it was readily visible - much brighter than Comet Leonard, which was only just a naked eye object then. However, the rocket plume may not have been visible from cities due to light pollution.
This was a once in a lifetime sight - I'm glad I saw it!