Maryland Weather: Light in the sky was Wallops rocket experiment - Weather forecast: Meteorology and climate conditions in the Baltimore region from reporter Frank Roylance

The Baltimore Sun > Weather > Maryland Weather

« Coldest morning since ... | Main | Equinox arrives at 5:18 p.m. »

September 20, 2009

Light in the sky was Wallops rocket experiment

I know, I know. I dropped the ball. That nocticlucent cloud experiment we wrote about here early last week was postponed on Tuesday night due to bad weather. And when it finally got the green A Black Brant rocket at Wallops/NASA light on Saturday, I was asleep at the switch, trying to have a life away from work. Mea culpa.

Anyway, the launch at around 7:45 p.m. produced the predicted artificial cloud in the the sky, which was visible from many locations on the East Coast.

Here is the CNN story, and another from Space.com. Here is a Flickr post showing what the cloud looked like, although the shooter had no idea what it was.

Finally, here is some You Tube video of the actual event, shot from Eldersburg, Md. The very bright, steady light in the sky is the planet Jupiter.

(NASA photo)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 7:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Sky Watching

Comments

Thanks, Frank!

I was out walking my dog Saturday night when I looked up and saw this odd thing. I was hoping Mr. Weatherblogger would have some info on it...

Posted by: Gus | September 21, 2009 7:46 AM

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments:

Verification (needed to reduce spam):

About Frank Roylance

This site is the Maryland Weather archive. The current Maryland Weather blog can be found here.

Frank Roylance is a reporter for The Baltimore Sun. He came to Baltimore from New Bedford, Mass. in 1980 to join the old Evening Sun. He moved to the morning Sun when the papers merged in 1992, and has spent most of his time since covering science, including astronomy and the weather. One of The Baltimore Sun's first online Web logs, the Weather Blog debuted in October 2004. In June 2006 Frank also began writing comments on local weather and stargazing for The Baltimore Sun's print Weather Page. Frank also answers readers’ weather queries for the newspaper and the blog. Frank Roylance retired in October 2011. Maryland Weather is now being updated by members of The Baltimore Sun staff

Follow @froylance on Twitter

-- ADVERTISEMENT --

Recent posts

Sign up for weather text alerts Returning user? Update preferences.
Sign up for more Sun text alerts

*Standard message and data rates apply. Click here for Frequently Asked Questions.

Maryland Weather Center

Area Weather Stations

Resources and Sun coverage

• Weather news

• Readers' photos

• Data from the The Sun's weather station

• 2011 stargazers' calendar

• Become a backyard astronomer in five simple steps

• Baltimore Weather Archive
Daily airport weather data for Baltimore from 1948 to today

• National Weather Service:
Sterling Forecast Office

• Capital Weather Gang:
Washington Post weather blog

• CoCoRaHS:
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. Local observations by volunteers

• Weather Bug:
Webcams across the state

• National Data Buoy Center:
Weather and ocean data from bay and ocean buoys

• U.S. Drought Monitor:
Weekly maps of drought conditions in the U.S.

• USGS Earthquake Hazards Program:
Real-time data on earthquakes

• Water data:
From the USGS, Maryland

• National Hurricane Center

• Air Now:
Government site for air quality information

• NWS Climate Prediction Center:
Long-term and seasonal forecasts

• U.S. Climate at a Glance:
NOAA interactive site for past climate data, national, state and city

• Clear Sky Clock:
Clear sky alerts for stargazers

• NASA TV:
Watch NASA TV

• Hubblesite:
Home page for Hubble Space Telescope

• Heavens Above:
Everything for the backyard stargazer, tailored to your location

• NASA Eclipse Home Page:
Centuries of eclipse predictions

• Cruise Critic: Hurricane Zone:
Check to see how hurricanes may affect your cruise schedule

• Warming World:
NASA explains the science of climate change with articles, videos, “data visualizations,” and space-based imagery.

• What on Earth:
NASA blog on current research at the space agency.

Most Recent Comments

Uncertainty surrounds weekend storm (1)
kevin wrote: I congratulate the local weather br... [more]
Great Backyard Bird Count is Saturday (1)
Paul Lind wrote: Make your backyard bird count a yea... [more]
Holiday weekend snow possible (2)
Lawrence wrote: Aw man. Annie, I was going to say t... [more]
Memories of February storms (1)
Sarah wrote: I clearly remember the storm in 200... [more]
More rain and snow this weekend (1)
Gregory Hill wrote: We just a brief shot of snow come t... [more]