Physics of auroral phenomena : proceedings of the 33rd Annual seminar, Apatity, 02 - 05 March, 2010 / [ed.: A.G. Yahnin, A. A. Mochalov]. - Апатиты : Издательство Кольского научного центра РАН, 2011. - 206 с. : ил.

OPTICAL PHENOMENA ASSOCIATED WITH THE LAUNCH OF A BALLISTIC MISSILE" BULAVA" DECEMBER 9, 2009 Yu.V. Platov S.A. Chem ouss2 1. Institute o f Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation RAS, e-mail: yplatov@izmiran.ru, 2. Polar Geophysical Institute KSC RAS, e-mail: chernouss@pgia.ru An unexpected fairy show was occurred suddenly over the Norwegian Arctic December 9, 2009 early in the morning. A spiral glow larger than the Moon enchanted in the night sky above the polar provinces Tromse, Finnmark, Trandelag. Slowly rotating the spiral has become a significant part in the coverage o f the sky light halo with disk-like shape. Blue-green beam rushing to the ground from the center o f the halo, went on a rotation basis in the form of a corkscrew. The lively discussion o f the likely nature of the spectacle, observed people in Scandinavia was in this day on the network forums around. Norwegian media were overcrowded breathtaking images o f eyewitnesses. The beautiful sight was observed residents throughout northern Norway, indicating its considerable height above the Earth. Various hypotheses to explain the observed phenomenon were suggested. They extended from the invasion o f aliens and God's signs to a more or less serious explanation. Thus, one o f the hypotheses assumed that the "UFO over Norway has organized a new sky resort to attract attention or advertising the show was that the sky shone a spotlight. This trick is said to have been used previously, but now the organizers simply have to add capacity. According to another hypothesis, witty kids joked with a laser pointer on the streets. The real explanation for the observed effects, as always, was much more prosaic. ITAR-TASS in the press-service information and the Defense Ministry confirmed that on Dec. 9, 2009 at 06:45 UT (09:45 Moscow time) from a submarine TK-208 “Dmitry Donskoy ", which was in the White Sea was made a test launch of a new Russian ballistic missile, sea-based Bulava from an underwater position. The test was unsuccessful. Following examination of the telemetry data revealed that the first two stages o f the rocket worked in normal mode, but at a subsequent, third phase o f the flight path there was a technical failure. In the framework of bilateral agreements Russia has provided information on the technical characteristics o f its newest missile the Bulava. It is three-stage rocket. Two first stages are solid-fuel ones, working on composite propellants. The third stage of the rocket, probably, also is solid-fuel one. Flaps for release of gases provide the maneuvers of the rocket. Prior to the separation of the second stage of the rocket launch picture (Figure la) does not particularly different from the "classical" event. For comparison Fig. lb shows a photograph of a missile launch «Minotaur» from Vandenberg on Sept. 23, 2005 “P hysics o f Auroral P henom ena”, Proc. XXXIII A n n u a l Sem inar, Apatity, pp. 1 8 6 - 189, 2011 © Kola Science Centre, Russian Academy of Science, 2011 a b Fig. 1. Rocket track visible as a result of the scattering of sunlight on the products o f combustion, a) during the White Sea launch b) during the Vanderberg launch In either case, the field of flight the missiles were illuminated by sunlight, while observers were on the night side of Earth. The difference in light conditions is that the missile launch «Minotaur» took place at night, when observers were far east of the space rocket launch and the launch of the Bulava took place in the morning hours and, of course, it was impossible to watch it by witnesses, who reside in the regions to the west space of launch. It was not possible to observe this effect at the Russian territory (Murmansk region and Karelia) because at the time of the launch (~ Polar Geophysical Institute 186