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Wake up early for a light show in the sky thanks to NASA

Posted at 11:55 PM, Jun 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-01 23:55:01-04

If you live along the Eastern Seaboard and wake up early Friday you could be treated to a colorful sky hours before sunrise lights up the horizon.

Blue-green and red clouds might be visible in the predawn sky from New York to North Carolina, thanks to a NASA rocket that will be launched from Wallops Flight Facility on the eastern shore of Virginia.

The Terrier-Improved Malumute sounding rocket is scheduled for launch Friday between 4:26 a.m. and 4:41 a.m. ET. Sounding rockets, by the way, have been used for over 40 years to carry science payloads on brief, 5-20 minute missions to space.

But in this case, the rocket launch isn’t even the cool part.

Approximately 4 to 5 minutes after launch, the rocket will deploy 10 canisters about the size of a soft drink can, each containing a colored vapor that will form artificial, luminescent clouds.

The clouds, or vapor tracers, are formed “through the interaction of barium, strontium, and cupric-oxide,” according to NASA.

Since the canisters will be released about 100 miles (160 kilometers) above the ground, the space agency says they “pose absolutely no hazard to residents along the mid-Atlantic coast.”

The vapor tracers will allow scientists on the ground to view the movement of the particles in the ionosphere, a region of the Earth’s atmosphere that stretches to the edge of space, to learn more about the movement of the air currents at that altitude.

The entire mission will last only about 8 minutes before the payload lands in the Atlantic Ocean about 90 miles out to sea from its launch point in Virginia.

This map shows the projected visibility of the vapor tracers during the June 2 mission. The vapor tracers may be visible from New York to North Carolina and westward to Charlottesville, Virginia.

This map shows the projected visibility of the vapor tracers during the June 2 mission. The vapor tracers may be visible from New York to North Carolina and westward to Charlottesville, Virginia.

How to watch

According to NASA, “the vapor tracers could be visible from New York to North Carolina and westward to Charlottesville, Virginia” (see image below for visible areas).

Clear skies are preferred for the launch since the mission involves observing the motion of the colored clouds from ground cameras located in Virginia and North Carolina.

Friday morning should provide mostly clear skies in the viewing location, and upper level winds should be friendly enough to allow the launch to take place (if not, backup launch dates are available each morning through June 6).

If you’re near the eastern US coast on Friday, look towards the eastern horizon beginning around 4:30 a.m. The farther you are from the launch location, the lower the clouds will appear on the horizon.

If you are farther north of the launch site (Washington, Philadelphia, New York) the clouds will appear in the lower southeastern sky. If you are to the south (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Outer Banks of North Carolina), look towards the northeastern horizon. Richmond and Charlottesville residents should be able to see the clouds directly to their east.

Not on the East Coast? No worries — NASA has you covered with a livestream beginning at 3:35 a.m. and continuous updated on the Wallops Facebook and Twitter sites. NASA says smartphone users can download the “What’s Up at Wallops” app to get more launch information.