LADEE Launch from Wallops Island, VA
Viewed from East Point, NJ
September 6, 2013

On September 6, 2013, NASA launched a Minotaur V rocket from Wallops Island, VA, carrying the LADEE spacecraft on a mission to the Moon. This is the view from East Point, NJ, looking over the Delaware Bay. It was time-stamped at 11:27:29 pm EDT, just after the rocket emerged from a glowing bulge at the horizon, slightly west of south (due south is the short dark span on the horizon, between the glow from Cape May, NJ, on the left and Lewes, DE, on the right). It was taken with a Canon 6D digital SLR camera (on a fixed tripod) and a Canon 24-105 mm F/4L zoom lens set to 24 mm focal length. Exposed 15 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 3,200. Note: The camera's clock was 5 seconds slow as determined by comparison to the NIST/USNO web clock after arriving home following the launch. The times listed here have been corrected by adding 5 seconds to the time in the EXIF data. Also note that there are many aircraft streaks in these photos, a prominent one at the top of this one.

The view at 11:27:48 pm EDT. Same camera and exposure as the first image, pointing in the same direction. There's an aircraft steak at the upper left.

The view at 11:28:38 pm EDT. Same camera and exposure as the first image, pointing in the same direction. The rocket is the brightest streak, the rest are aircraft. 

The view at 11:29:56 pm EDT. Same camera and exposure as the first image, but now pointing roughly east, towards Sea Isle City on the Atlantic coast, about 18 miles away. The seawall along the Delaware Bay is on the right, and in the foreground, some of the crowd that had gathered to watch the launch (15 to 20 cars were there).

The smoke trail persisted for quite a while after the rocket disappeared in the east. This is the view at 11:35:01 pm EDT. Same camera and lens as before, but set to 67 mm focal length and exposed 8 seconds at ISO 12,800. The bright star below the smoke is Beta Ceti (Deneb Kaitos or Diphda).