
🚀 📷 Photojournalist and Professional Spaceflight Photographer - @kelbyone instructor - Aerospace / Astro / Aviation Photographer, Trainer and Author
Tampa
Joined May 2009
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Bandwagon-5 this morning. Falcon 9 out of the Cape at 7:04. Rideshare. 32 payloads heading southeast.
Closer to sunrise than CRS-35 last week, so the sky wasn’t as dark but, you still get the jellyfish. Same trick though… The rocket is already in sunlight. We’re still in twilight on the ground. Exhaust turns to ice, spreads, and the sun lights it.
Difference here is you can actually read the different parts of the vehicle in some of these clearer since it’s lit up more than last week… here’s the sequence in reverse order from later to earlier in the launch.
First frame is the split. Bright one with the beam is second stage heading to orbit. The small glowing blob to the left is first stage, already done, going downrange to the droneship. Not a boostback to the Cape this time, so the booster stays in the same piece of sky as the upper stage for a bit. That’s why you get both in one shot. Plus, you see two dots which are the fairings falling back to earth.
Second frame, bright point on the right is second stage. The two little sparks under the plume is a fairing half catching the sun. They dump those right after the upper stage lights and then the first stage below with the thursters guiding it to landing on the drone ship
Third frame is second stage lighting. Merlin Vacuum in thin air. That’s the bulb. Exhaust has nothing to push against, so it blooms and the first stage is noticeably falling away.
The last frame is earlier in the launch when the stack is climbing but has seperated just tighter together. That bright tip is the seocnd stage. and you can see the fairings and booster falling away. Long sunlit trail behind it.
Same family of Jellyfish shots as last week. Similar to polar noctilucent clouds but Rocket exhaust in the upper atmosphere. Twilight phenomenon. Want to know when they’re happening, follow @spacejellyalert
Photos: me
Erik Kuna 🚀 retweeted
I’m leading my photography workshop in Florence, Italy, this week, so @ErikKuna is taking over tomorrow’s episode of The Grid for “How Would I Edit Your Photo?” Submit one UNEDITED photo (JPEG or RAW) at kelbyone.ai/gridedit/. Then catch Erik’s start-to-finish edits live tomorrow (Thursday) at 1 PM ET at YouTube.com/kelbyone or facebook.com/SKelby. I’ll be back next week. In the meantime, send Erik some good ones. :)
SpaceX CRS-35 this morning. Falcon 9 out of Cape Canaveral, 6:33am. Shot from Tampa, 140 miles from the pad, in twilight.
The elusive space jellyfish. When the rocket is already up in sunlight while the ground is still dark. In this case a Falcon 9 First stage boosts back toward LZ-40 and the Second stage keeps climbing toward the ISS. Both burns dump vapor and exhaust into really thin air, it freezes and spreads, and the rising sun lights that cloud from below. You’re standing in shadow looking at something that’s already in sunrise. Scientific Magic.
That’s why you get the blue bell and the gold and red tentacles, rising into sunrise. Same idea as noctilucent clouds too… ice crystals form high enough to catch the sun at night except these aren’t the polar night-shining clouds though. This is rocket exhaust in the upper atmosphere. What is amazing is that it can hang there for a while and look completely wrong, like something that doesn’t belong. People who don’t know think it’s an alien invasion but it’s just a Falcon 9 launching and landing.
Besides the rocket nebula shots, these orbital sunrise frames are the ones I chase the most. If you’re going to shoot a dawn launch from Florida, get somewhere with a clean eastern sky and expose for the plume, not the rocket. The sky around you is still night. The show is sunrise in space.
Photo Credit: me
Erik Kuna 🚀 retweeted
That's a wrap. J
ust finished recording a new KelbyOne class: "To specialize or not to specialize, that is the question," with special guest Erik Kuna.
Stay tuned for the release date!
Love working with the @KelbyOne crew!!
@erikkuna @ScottKelby
🌎 It’s Photo Walk Day! Have an amazing time out there today, stay safe, take lots of photos, and enjoy spending the day with your fellow photographers! 📸 And don’t forget those group shots. We love seeing everyone together, so be sure to share yours and tag us! 🌟
🏆 The Worldwide Photo Walk Contest opens at 10:00 AM EDT! Pick your best shot from the day and submit it for a chance to win some great prizes from our sponsors.
🔗 Contest details + submit: kel.by/wwpw26contest
#WWPW2026 #PhotographyCommunity #PhotoWalk
Erik Kuna 🚀 retweeted
We’re Stoked (pun intended) to share our work for the amazing team at @stoke_space. Stoke is on a mission to unlock the space economy with fully and rapidly reusable rockets. (1/2)
Watch Starship Flight 14 xitter.cf/i/broadcasts/1qxvvenMP…
Erik Kuna 🚀 retweeted
Tonight, we’re honoring our dear friend Jay Maisel. Erik Kuna and I will be joined by Joe McNally and Jack Reznicki to share some stories, photos, and memories of Jay and celebrate the incredible life and legacy he left behind. I hope you’ll join us tonight at 7:00 PM EDT over on my Facebook page (facebook.com/skelby) or on YouTube (youtube.com/@KelbyOne).
Please join us this Thursday as we come together to remember and celebrate the life and legacy of legendary photographer Jay Maisel, whose unmistakable way of seeing the world inspired generations of photographers.
@ScottKelby and @ErikKuna will be joined by @JoeMcNallyPhoto and Jack Reznicki (@copyrightjack) to share stories, photographs, and memories, along with some memorable moments with Jay from over the years.
🧡 A Tribute to Jay Maisel | Thursday, September 24 at 7:00 PM EDT
🔸 facebook.com/skelby | youtube.com/@KelbyOne | kel.by/webcast
Erik Kuna 🚀 retweeted
If you give @NASAAdmin an engine, he's going to climb in it. This is a new @NASA under @rookisaacman, and I'm here for it! 🇺🇸
Thanks to @NASAAdmin Jared Isaacman and his team for visiting our Moses Lake Test Site recently! Great to show off hot fires of both our Andromeda and Zenith engines as they complete their qualification campaigns.






































