Category Archives: Space

July 10, 2026 · 23:54

Summit Fire

It’s hot, it’s dry, and there are brush fires everywhere. We currently don’t have anything like the MASSIVE fires going on in Colorado, but we have “smaller” ones by the dozen every day. Anything in city limits gets pounced on pretty fast and gets limited to just a handful of acres. Anything out in the boonies can get a lot bigger fast.

I get notices all day long on the Watch Duty app, so that in and of itself isn’t terribly noticeable. SoCal is a BIG area so 99% of the fires are way off yonder.

But one popped up today that was closer, almost due west of us about 20 miles (so no danger to us), and the notices I was seeing were warning that it was growing fast. So I went out the front door to peek.

Yep, that would be it. Lots of smoke, but the winds were carrying it off to our north, up toward Victorville and Barstow.

300 acres. 600 acres. 1,300 acres. Almost due west, so I knew that sunset would be good.

I wasn’t wrong!

The C-130s, the water bombers, and the firefighting helicopters were all active. It looks like the helicopters were going to the nearby California Aqueduct to dip their buckets and refill fast, staying close to the fire’s location.

Sunset came, and as predicted, it was smoky and colorful.

At 20:05 there was supposed to be a SpaceX launch from Vandenberg, but I thought it was still too light to see from here, and I thought that the orange & brown clouds of smoke would be an additional hazard.

Nope! Blind luck was on my side. I was taking pictures of the C-130 which had just refilled its water tanks at San Berardino Airport and was headed back to make two more drops on the fire. It wasn’t until just now that I noticed that sharp, white streak on the left side. Falcon 9, with the planet in its rearview mirror!! Some days it’s better to be lucky than good.

 

 

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Filed under Los Angeles, Panorama, Photography, Space, Weather

May 19, 2026 · 23:22

Celestial Wonders, Both Natural & Manmade

First the celestial. After dark right now, the 14% illuminated waxing crescent Moon is just a bright sliver up there next to really bright Jupiter to its upper left and really, REALLY bright Venus to its lower right.

The two sorta bright stars side-by-side above the moon are Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini.

An hour earlier, right at sunset, SpaceX launched out of Vandenberg and I wasn’t sure if it would be dark enough to see the rocket or not. It was close, but I was able to follow the exhaust plume for a couple of minutes.

It was pretty easy to follow with binoculars, but the iPhone camera didn’t pick up as much detail because the contrast between the plume and the background sunset sky was very low.

But for the briefest of moments, I was able to capture both the rocket plume (just to the left of center and just above the tree) and the crescent Moon (upper right corner). Not too shabby!

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Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Space, Sunsets

April 10, 2026 · 23:27

Proof Of Life – April 10th

Another of those “Set SCE to AUX” days, after a whole string of them, busting my ass and running on empty trying to hit deadlines.

I checked mid-afternoon to see if it would be clear enough to see tonight’s scheduled SpaceX launch. It didn’t look hopeful.

However, the sunset was promising, about the same time that Artemis II was splashing down off of San Diego, 200 miles to my southwest.

In the end I never saw a launch and don’t even know if they actually DID launch, or if they scrubbed and will reschedule.

In the end, I got MY work done for the deadlines, somehow. And I saw a very pretty sunset, then refilled the birdseed feeders.

I’m “go” to switch SCE back to NORM.

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Filed under Photography, Space, Sunsets

April 1, 2026 · 22:28

Nice Start, April

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Not the worst way to start off a month. We all know that there is no shortage of nonsense and bullshit out there pretty much everywhere, but I would argue that this is an unadulterated good thing. I might argue with how long they’re taking or their launch cadence or other details, but going back to the Moon is a good thing.

Savor and enjoy the good things. There aren’t enough of them out there.

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Filed under Space

January 19, 2026 · 23:23

No Aurora For SoCal, Again

And again, that’s probably for the best.

I did go out to check (temps in the mid 40’s, a few thin clouds) but the view to the north was lacking in color.

Check out social media for a ton of incredible images from Europe, Scandanavia, Canada, and the northern tier of US states. I saw some images from Northern California, Oregon, northern Nevada, the Virginia/North Carolina border, and northern Arizona, but nothing any further south. We’re probably at least 400 to 500 miles too far south.

That’s okay. As noted in the past, as uber cool as it would be to see to see aurora from SoCal, doing so probably involves an event at least as powerful as the 1859 Carrington Event, which would have massive side effects that would be catastrophic to our society and infrastructure. Being without an electric grid, the Internet, airline travel, and all of the related distruptions to our economic structure, food supplies, and trade would not be my idea of a good time. It was highly disruptive in 1859 – it would be a nightmare today.

So, no aurora for SoCal, again.

As it should be!

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Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Space

January 15, 2026 · 23:29

No Re-Entry Joy For Me

Here’s  the flight path for last night’s SpaceX Crew 11 re-entry to splash down into the ocean off of San Diego.

I went out to watch, but they were a bit too far offshore and I live a bit too far inland, so while they were definitely out there off the coast, they were too low for me to see. Maybe if I had gone out to the edge of the Mesa where it drops off into Cajon Pass to the west…

Others in the LA and Ventura area had much better results. A few selections from social media:

https://www.threads.com/@cgoure/post/DTifPuBkSXH?xmt=AQF0k-nL6oqFR-TlSRlLcRwLt1ekfrqgDO-eAUmVMCm9Yx04GxWeB6zPD7zS1nHO1BZ1Szmu&slof=1

https://www.threads.com/@astro_g_dogg/post/DTjh6rWkQsI?xmt=AQF0iXwO5UyPSl6l5PFpAnCJ3O2kwy7GVuYiFjGzbJSwGULn_e-HNp4dAckLH7FA64K6F4Bg&slof=1

https://www.threads.com/@johnwillsund/post/DThn-UelUw9?xmt=AQF0JY82oRgfLKjGW0Jx8FZ88-c3lhmxMQ1Gh7TaAjUqlIvKDpWLEISNqynWfBRGIIYGGPJs&slof=1

There will be other missions and other similar descending node orbital tracks toward San Diego. Time for me to check out some back roads and find where I can get a good, open view to the west!

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Filed under Forever Home, Space

November 16, 2025 · 23:17

I Thought I Had Missed It

SpaceX was launching out of Vandenberg tonight, but with all of the rain (about 2″ over the last two days) and clouds (pretty solid overcast for five days) I didn’t expect to see much. But, eternal optimist and all of that, out I went at the appointed time.

COLD! WINDY! According to a WeatherUnderground station in the neighborhood, it was 45ºF, winds at 17 mph gusting to 22, so not exactly “sweater weather.” But I guess some days it’s better to be lucky than good.

The first stage (that little orange flame over the neighbor’s tree) was visible for about two seconds max. Then it disappeared into all of those clouds up above.

Given the weather up and down the SoCal coastal regions, I guess the bigger surprise is that they were launching at all!

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Filed under Photography, Space, Weather

August 13, 2025 · 23:56

Can We See SpaceX Launches From The High Desert?

This was not quite a deal breaker when figuring out where to find our Forever Home, but it was definitely an important question to me. And I had gone looking for videos and pictures prior to moving here, so I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

Yep! Coincidentally, we happen to have a clear view between the two houses across the street all the way to the western horizon, so less than a minute after launch there was a red dot climbing up which quickly started growing a tail of fire.

Over the next minute or two it was easy to see the tail get longer and start to change color, then it all suddenly blinked out at Main Engine Cut Off (MECO).

I figured that was it, but after the second stage lit up I could see it with my eyes for another couple of minutes, headed southbound and up.

Tonight’s launch was originally supposed to be a twilight launch, with the exhaust plume all lit up by the setting Sun from way over the horizon, and possibly a huge “jellyfish effect” as the exhaust expanded and blew around in the high altitude winds. Then the launch got bumped almost two hours, and we didn’t see any of that in the dark night sky.

Maybe next time.

It most certainly looks smaller from here – we’re almost three times as far away from Vandenberg as we were in West Hills. But this is not a strictly local phenomenon, so let’s bring on the next night launch!

By then I’ll have found the tripods and rescued them from the PODS unit and I’ll be looking for better photos and maybe some video. Stand by.

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Filed under Forever Home, Photography, Space

July 18, 2025 · 23:31

Forever Home – July 18th

We signed loan documents today. I sent wire transfers for more than $80,000. It doesn’t get much more real than that.

We should fund on Monday, and close escrow on Tuesday morning. After five years of living on Zillow for hour after hour and looking at house after house, it’s a bit unreal to actually be at this point.

We still have to get everything packed and ready to bug out on Wednesday and Thursday next week. It will be an exhausting weekend.

Another “last” tonight, as SpaceX had an almost perfect launch out of Vandenberg after sunset.

A couple of minutes before the launch, the light fading, a bit of color in the clouds. (That white, comet-like thing above the wire isn’t the rocket, it’s a lens flare from the neighbor’s security lighting.)

The launch was fantastic, complete with four or five teenagers pulling up mid launch with one girl screaming about “that thing in the sky,” some dude telling her it was the Moon (it was not the Moon), and some olde phart (me) yelling across the street to tell them what it really was.

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Filed under Forever Home, Photography, Space, Sunsets, Video

June 16, 2025 · 22:46

Spectacular Sunset Launch

There was a SpaceX Falcon9 launch (with Starlink satellites) at 20:36, with sunset having occurred at 20:09. It was clear and I expected a spectacular sight – I was not disappointed.

Click on them – enjoy the full-sized files!

The rocket rose just to the right of the mountain, seen through those trees and headed toward orbit. The white exhaust plume is from the first stage, which cut off (MECO = Main Engine Cut Off) just behind that far left tree. You can see the rocket coasting and the second stage firing just above and to the left of that point.

The second stage, along with the Starlink payload, is headed to space and well above most of the atmosphere at this point, so the exhaust expands out in a cone behind it. The bright dot just behind and below it is the first stage, falling back toward the drone barge waiting for it off of Baja.

Behind it, the plume was being pushed around by high altitude winds and still brightly lit by the Sun, even though it was well after sunset here on the ground. A launch like this always leads to a ton of calls to 9-1-1.

Finally, as even the eastern-most parts of the plume fell into darkness, the western-most parts were still lit up but were starting to turn orange with the sunset.

I think I got a pretty decent view of the launch on video. It’s long, about 15 minutes, since I let it run, hoping to hear the sonic boom about 12-13 minutes after launch. (Spoiler: I didn’t hear the sonic boom, but the front yard sprinklers did turn on and I had to run for it to stay dry. You can stop watching the video after about the 8:45 mark, unless you want to see me scramble.)

Falcon9 shows up over the hill at about 3:43. MECO and stage separation happens at 4:29. At 5:35, in the plume behind the second stage, you can see three dots. That’s the 1st stage, and the two fairing halves, all falling back to be recovered and re-used on a future flight.

Another thing to look for is the reentry burn of the first stage. It can be seen starting up just to the left of the street light pole from 8:11 to 8:34, the first time I’ve ever seen it from here, over a hundred miles away. In this burn, the first stage slows down as it starts to hit the top of the atmosphere, reducing the heat and structural stress on reentry as transitions from falling to flying down onto the drone ship. Spectacular!

I’ve seen videos taken from the High Desert, Hesperia, Victorville, and Apple Valley, where folks there can still see these launches, even another hundred miles to the east. It will be interesting to watch for from that new viewpoint when we find the Forever Home.

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Filed under Photography, Space, Sunsets, Video