Tue. Night: NASA Rocket Light Show over U.S. East Coast

NASA Rocket to Spark Light Show Over US East Coast Tonight

by Joe Rao, SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist

Date: 29 January 2013 Time: 10:58 AM ET

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Two of the clouds left in the wake of the ATREX experiment shine on March 27, 2012. The rockets released trimethyl aluminum, a substance that burns spontaneously in the presence of oxygen. CREDIT: NASA/Wallops Flight Facility View full size image

NASA will launch a rocket tonight (Jan. 29) on a mission that promises to put on a spectacular, albeit brief, light show over the U.S. East Coast that may be visible to stargazers along the Atlantic Seaboard, weather permitting.

Unsuspecting observers of the artificial night sky display may be puzzled and amazed, so before you make that phone call to your local media outlet or police station, here is why this is happening and when you might see it.

The bright phenomenon will be caused by an experiment aboard a NASA sounding rocket. As part the mission, the rocket will release a chemical tracer that should create two bright, red-colored lithium vapor trails in space that may be seen by observers across the mid-Atlantic region, and possibly from even further away.

More - Link >>> http://www.space.com/19521-nasa-rocket-night-sky-lights-launch.html

Source: Space.com .

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