Mike B.
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/24/05
Posts: 1666
Loc: Louisiana
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Man, I thought I had just discovered a new comet! LoL! But, it appears to be a rocket fuel dump. I caught this in twilight with a 85mm F/5.6 TV-85.
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Clear skies!
Mike B.
My Homepage and Astrophotos
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soreneck
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 04/01/06
Posts: 869
Loc: Toronto, Canada
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Holy cow! That's amazing!
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Adam
WO 110 FLT / WO 66 Triplet
QHY9 / Modified Canon 450D
SkyWatcher EQ-6 Pro
Backyard (urban) roll-off observatory
One small but fearless dog (observing companion)
my astrophotos on flickr
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Dave M
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/04
Posts: 4847
Loc: N.E Ohio
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Great! catch.. 
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Dave
Meade 16" F4.5 EQ Starfinder
Meade 10" SCT / Losmandy G11
Tak FSQ106ED
Canon 20D
SBig ST-4
http://www.spacew.com/gallery/DM
Ps 19:1 The Heavens Declare the Glory of GOD.
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Mike B.
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/24/05
Posts: 1666
Loc: Louisiana
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Thanks, guys! 
It was amazing to see! It just "bloomed" into a big "Comet West" looking object at first. It was almost directly overhead then it moved north-east and went right through the "W" of Cassieopeia, eventually fading out as it dipped towards the north-east LP dome.
I'll try attaching a couple more shots.
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Clear skies!
Mike B.
My Homepage and Astrophotos
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Mike B.
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/24/05
Posts: 1666
Loc: Louisiana
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Another one.
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Clear skies!
Mike B.
My Homepage and Astrophotos
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Mike B.
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/24/05
Posts: 1666
Loc: Louisiana
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Here:
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Clear skies!
Mike B.
My Homepage and Astrophotos
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Mike B.
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/24/05
Posts: 1666
Loc: Louisiana
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One more. That's Gamma Cass (the brightest star.)
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Clear skies!
Mike B.
My Homepage and Astrophotos
Edited by Mike B. (12/11/07 12:41 AM)
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Joe G
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/10/07
Posts: 757
Loc: Southern California
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Amazing!
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Tak FSQ 106N, 8" F4 GSO, 10" F4.7 Orion
CCD Labs Q453 (Q8)
TSS Modded Atlas
My Flickr Astrophotos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10168933@N08/
Click on the image->All sizes for larger images
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AviddayM
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/28/05
Posts: 2096
Loc: Snohomish, Washington
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Wow! cool Mike. Talk about being at the right place at the right time.
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Dave
FS102NSV f/8
C11 XLT
NJP Temma II
STV Deluxe w/efinder
Ps 8:3-4
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers. The moon and the stars, which You have ordained. What is man that You are mindful of him. And the son of man that You visit him?
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1965healey
Post Laureate
Reged: 06/23/07
Posts: 3057
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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AWESOME capture of it!
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1965Healey (Karen)
Woodlawn Lake Observatory
Celestron CPC 800/FT MIcro/APT Wedge
SV NHNG 80mm #0261/CG5-GT
Celestron Omni 150 XLT
Losmandy rails/rings
Starizona CWeight system
Celestron Neximage
Sony a100 DSLR/ZigView S2
Meade DS60's w/Autostar (2)
Meade LPI/Meade DSI-C/DSI ProII
750cc Honda Shadow Spirit (Thanks Dad!)
1965 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII
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Dave M
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/04
Posts: 4847
Loc: N.E Ohio
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That first one looks like it has structure/form to it, looks
like you caught it not long after the dump was initiated.
I seen one here directly overhead about a year or two ago, it
was more of a bright gray blob, i could see it drifting slowly to the east if remember right.
Very cool! shots, Mike..
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Dave
Meade 16" F4.5 EQ Starfinder
Meade 10" SCT / Losmandy G11
Tak FSQ106ED
Canon 20D
SBig ST-4
http://www.spacew.com/gallery/DM
Ps 19:1 The Heavens Declare the Glory of GOD.
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Nick Lloyd
He asked for it
Reged: 10/24/06
Posts: 2156
Loc: cincinnati
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What is the hard-edge object to the right... in the first photo? Is that the rocket itself?
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"The best scope is the one you use." -rcg
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2786
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Totally awesome Mike. Great capture!!!!!
To bad we are fully engulfed in clouds here in Tennessee. 
CS's
Joey
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CPC 1100 is Home.
Next stop...Denk II's.
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Mike B.
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/24/05
Posts: 1666
Loc: Louisiana
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Quote:
That first one looks like it has structure/form to it, looks
like you caught it not long after the dump was initiated.
I seen one here directly overhead about a year or two ago, it
was more of a bright gray blob, i could see it drifting slowly to the east if remember right.
Very cool! shots, Mike..
Thanks, Dave! And thanks to everyone who commented. 
Yeah, that first one was within minites after first seeing it. I had trouble keeping up with the movement. It was just going so fast in the view finder.
Here's a link to an enlargement of the first image:
Rocket Fuel Dump Pic 1 Enlargement
I banged my head into the camera viewfinder and knocked the focus off I was so excited! Doh! lol
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Clear skies!
Mike B.
My Homepage and Astrophotos
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Carl M
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/21/07
Posts: 904
Loc: Vermont, USA
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I saw it too! At first, my 11 yr old son Evgeniy said "Look at Holmes!!" and dragged everyone out( I was in the middle of setting up for an evening of trying to learn more of my Rebel XTi) Anyway, it was in the wrong part of the sky! I thought - Wow, new comet.... Then it was gone after maybe 15 - 20 min. Rocket Fuel dump? It was cool!!!!
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Carl
JStar 12" Truss Dob w/Swayze Mirror
StellarVue SV50 "Little Rascal"
SV102ED
SV80ED(NHNG )
SV70ED
LS60THa/B1200
AT66 (Chrome)
G-11 Gemini, GM-8
AT, WO, and TV eyepieces
Lake Runnemede Observatory
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Matt Looby
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 07/09/03
Posts: 807
Loc: Wadhams, NY
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I saw it too and watched it disapate to a large cloud.
Matt Looby,
Wadhams, NY
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CN GALLERY
6" Dynascope
3.5 Questar Duplex
7x50 Binolux Binoculars
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Doug Neal
sage
Reged: 01/08/06
Posts: 267
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Great capture and even better timing for posting on the forum. Being one of the active amateur astronomers in my area, my phone was ringing off the hook asking "What is that"? I'm glad you solved the mystery and were able to catch it with the camera.
Regards,
Doug
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RAF
member
Reged: 10/13/05
Posts: 54
Loc: Arapahoe, NC
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I am in Eastern NC and from my perspective the fuel vapor eminated from a point, then fanned out with the outer edges of the fan curling over. Tried to get a shot of it but failed in my excitement.
I managed to watch it almost 30 to 40mins using a combination of binoculars and my 12.5" Discovery that was cooling down. The vapour cloud from origin to the end of the fan tail was easily twice the FOV using my 22mm Panoptic.
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stefsaber
Post Laureate
Reged: 06/24/06
Posts: 4589
Loc: Rainy Florida
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Amazing images, I thought I was seeing a comet till I checked the forums! Awesome captures! 
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-Stefan
"A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." -Douglas Adams
Current Scopes: "Gator" William Optics 66SD---Black Swan William Optics Megrez 80 II ED Triplet---Zhumell 10" Dob
-Sirius Mount---Canon Rebel XT-
Past Scopes: ETX 90---Vixen ED80Sf
Fort Myers, FL
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edcannon
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/19/03
Posts: 681
Loc: Austin, Texas
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Mike B.,
Spectacular images -- wow!
What was the length of time of your exposure(s)? Like the first image above with the streak of the payload or the Centaur, how long did it take for it to move that distance? (What is that distance; how far did it move?)
You got these from Louisiana? That's another wow!
Maybe three weeks or so ago there was a geostationary launch that had one of these, but it was much higher above the Earth (22,000 miles of course) and above the equator, nearly stationary. Those are not so bright as this one. Plus for that one our weather here almost completely prevented seeing it, but at least there were some breaks between clouds.
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Ed Cannon - Austin, Texas, USA
Bushnell H2O 8x42, Celestron Skymaster 12x60
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