NASAさんのインスタグラム写真 - (NASAInstagram)「The three bright-white arcs in this photo are a long-exposure view of the Super Soaker sounding rocket launch — so called because this mission released a burst of water into the air. The result was an artificial cloud. The blue glow comes from the vapor tracers used to track wind movements, and the green streak is the laser beam used to measure the cloud. (There's even a faint aurora glowing in the background of the launch, which took place in Alaska.) Since the late 1800s, observers have searched the polar skies for elusive, high-flying clouds that shine in the darkness. Today, scientists study these clouds because of what they can reveal about the dynamics of Earth’s upper atmosphere. Super Soaker released about 485 pounds of water (roughly 58 gallons) during its flight to create the artificial cloud, allowing scientists to study how these clouds form naturally. Their research shows that water vapor in our upper atmosphere can significantly lower the surrounding temperature and initiate one of these bright shining clouds. Read more at the link in our bio. 📸 credits: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Poker Flat Research Range/Zayn Roohi #NASA #timelapse #soundingrocket #BiggestSuperSoakerEver」2月24日 23時08分