Go Back   IceInSpace > General Astronomy > Celestial and Astronomical Events

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #1  
Old 08-01-2022, 07:29 PM
WAussie (Clive)
Registered User

WAussie is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Country
Posts: 4
James Webb Space Telescope rocket trail sighting?

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!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 06:48 PM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement