Folks who opted not to hit snooze and sleep in were greeted to quite the sight in the Florida sky Thursday morning.
An Atlas V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 6:13 a.m. Thursday. While lifting up in the sky the rocket created a distinct, bright white glow and trail. The timing of the rocket’s liftoff and the sunrise combined to create these pictures.
The Atlas V rocket was carrying a military communications satellite called the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite. It was the fifth in a series of six that began launching in 2010 for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, according to WeatherNation affiliate WPEC-TV.
This same kind of view is possible when rockets are launched around sunset too. When the sun is below the horizon but lights up the upper part of our atmosphere, it can create these amazing sights. If you happened to catch it, please share it with us on our Twitter or Facebook pages!
For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Steve Glazier