Rocket Launch | Friday Photo #714 | Lofoten Islands Norway

Photo: Isar space agency rocket launched from Andøya glows in the sky over Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 9, 2026. 22:18

As darkness approached the low clouds which had been filling the sky over my neighbourhood cleared. I had the livestream of the launch playing on my phone as I headed a little ways down the road to what I thought would be a good vantage point. With the launch time scheduled for 22:00 in the still fading twilight, I was hoping the rocket would get a bit of upper atmospheric illumination as the booster separated. And it did!

Growing up in southern California, I’m not a stranger to rocket launches, which occurred on occasion from the airforce base a little ways north. And now, they occur with even more frequency, as it’s used as a launch site for Space X rockets, but that has only occurred in recent years.

Back in the day, I only had a few chances to shoot twilight launches, the last of which being 2002 – the photo below. Probably shot of Fuji Provia 100, I remember heading up into the mountains above town after class to photograph the sunset timed launch. Back then, everything was a bit of guesswork, but I ended up with a couple nice images. Though now of relatively poor quality by today’s standards.

So for last weekend’s launch, I more or less knew what to expect, or at least what I was hoping to see. I thought I put myself in a good location for the rocket itself to launch from behind the mountains. But I should have gone another kilometer down the road to better place the rocket’s upper atmospheric glow closer to the moon, as in this image, it feels like it’s already heading out of frame. I like the addition of the moon in the image, but it was also hard to place in the scene without also feeling too out of balance.

While not perfect, it sounds like there will be some more chances in the future, as this launch went perfectly.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 20mm f/1.8
20mm
ISO 400
f4
4 Seconds
WB Daylight