Finally had good conditions to photograph a SpaceX launch, except it was 100% cloudy in St Augustine Florida, so I took the chance and drove an hour south to New Smyrna beach (30 miles N of launch pad) and was rewarded! The trajectory to NE was very favorable for my location (marked in pink) and the sonic boom was very loud and long, arriving about 90s after liftoff. The gradients in the sky and reflections on the ocean and beach resulted in an interesting symmetry, with a 98% waning gibbous moon on the left and the launch pad on the right.
Exif: Canon R6, 14mm @ f/5.6 iso100 bulb mode 4 sequential photos of 60-90s in duration, merged with PS.
Photography location in pink below.
There is also a
great video of the trajectory on YouTube. It shows that the rocket was already at 80km altitude when the first boosters separated, and over 150km at the 5:00 min mark, so I believe we are seeing the curvature of earth from our perspective on the beach in the photo. If anyone in the comments can confirm this is the case?
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