It's been a bit since I got out to shoot a launch. I've been busy studying for my next adventure to come in the Spring, but more on that later. We were fortunate to have two night starlink launches in a row. Of course, I skipped the first, being Thursday night (I was actually simply too tired to get out in time). I did manage to make it out to the dock for last nights launch though. Being a full Moon rising directly over the launch area, I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to expose the launch itself. It takes anywhere from five to eight minutes of leaving my shutter open to catch the arc, and with the brightness of a full Moon directly overhead, I was not expecting a great result. I guess you can be the judge.

The first image was nearly eight minutes. It was so bright, it washed out the booster return. You can see an elongated Moon due to it moving during that timeframe.

The second image was the moonrise as I arrived on the dock, a beautiful orange and low enough yet to make a lovely scene.

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Moonlit LaunchStarlink satellites launch into space at 10:45 pm on Thursday, May 23, 2024. Seen here during a full Moon over Santa Fe Lake, FL. Full Moon RisingThe May full Moon rises over Lake Santa Fe in Florida.