October 7th 2018, exactly 4 years ago today, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. I captured this timelapse of the launch from City Terasse in Los Angeles. You can clearly see Downtown LA in the foreground!
I used a 1” interval which means the total duration of the entire launch is about 7 to 8 minutes. You’ve probably seen this timelapse online as it has been shared all over social media for the last 4 years. Even today, the timelapse is still being heavily shared by different space accounts and bring me new followers (if they tag me properly). Sure is the timelapse that changed everything!
The launch took place about 45min after the sunset which was the perfect time of the day to create what we call a Twiligh Phenomenon. A twilight phenomenon is produced when exhaust particles from missile or rocket propellant left in the vapor trail of a launch vehicle condense, freeze, and then expand in the less dense upper atmosphere. The exhaust plume, which is suspended against a dark sky, is then illuminated by reflective high-altitude sunlight through dispersion, which produces a spectacular, colorful effect when seen at ground level.
