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Originally posted by chris01621
but I don't think missiles travel in their own smoke or cause smoke to form around them like that.
Rocket launch paints sky with breath-taking scene
The Minotaur's ascent to reach the desired orbit around Earth was timed perfectly to produce a spectacular "twilight phenomenon" that occurs when rockets or missiles are launched just before sunrise or shortly after sunset. Unburned fuel particles and water drops in the rocket's contrail freeze in the less dense upper atmosphere and get reflected by sunlight at high altitudes to generate such breath-taking scenes. The winds aloft twist the exhaust cloud, giving it a corkscrew effect.
Originally posted by eaglewingz
That's because it's not smoke. It's unburned fuel and water vapor that freezes in the high atmosphere.
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Originally posted by chris01621
[The reason being that I don't see any form of propulsion coming from the back end of it, it's just a white dot and it does seem to be gliding more than anything...