Delta 4 launch

Overcast in Ridgecrest. :-(

It cleared up from Rosamond on downwards and it was a good liftoff at 8:33pm could watch it until it was lost in the haze to the far south.

I went out and waited for it with my camera. At about 8:30 I figured they'd scrubbed the launch, and went in to see if there were any updates about it online. Came back out a couple minutes later and discovered I'd missed the liftoff. But the rocket was still visible as a bright dot surrounded by glowing vapor, rapidly moving south. Saw it separate into three small dots before it was lost behind the neighbor's house, fence etc.

By that time, a portion of the vapor trail near the crescent moon was glowing brightly. Very pretty.=20 =86