Finding himself in the right place at the right time, Guillaume Poulin photographed the exhaust gases of a rocket flying into space, which we could see in the sky of the region at the end of the week. .
It was Saturday evening, September 24, around 7:40 p.m., while he was installing telescopes at the AstroLab in Mont-Mégantic National Park, where he has worked for nearly 20 years.
It was the American company SpaceX which launched a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral space station in Florida, along the east coast of the United States.
« I knew there was a launch, but I had no idea we were going to see it from home. You could really see the bright spot of the rocket engine. Me, I caught it just when it was coming into orbit and shutting down its engines “, he told EnBeauce.com, in a telephone interview. It was actually the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket.
He clarified that everything was aligned in his direction at that time: the rocket which was on the right trajectory and the fact that there were no clouds. ” Also, the timing of the launch coincided with the correct time when the sun is down, but not too far below the horizon, so the gases were still illuminated by the sun. »
Originally from Sherbrooke and 38 years old, Guillaume Poulin has been passionate about the celestial world since a very young age.