A Flight of the Proton-M Launch Vehicle Carrying the Yamal-601 Satellite: Optical Effects Observed in a Distant Zone of the Launch Site

Abstract

In this paper, we consider disturbances in the airglow of the Earth’s upper atmosphere caused by a launch of the Yamal-601 satellite on May 30, 2019. For this purpose, we used the data acquired with an optical system of the Institute of Solar−Terrestrial Physics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (ISTP SB RAS). The measurements were carried out at the Geophysical Observatory (GPO) of the ISTP SB RAS (~52° N, ~103° E) with a complex of optical instruments—a whole-sky camera, a spectrograph, and a Fabry–Pérot interferometer. According to the data of the KЕО Sentinel camera, an extensive area of airglow was observed along the flightpath; it appeared approximately 2−4 min after the spacecraft’s passage over the GPO and existed for ~20 min. A transversal scale of the spacecraft’s flightpath is estimated approximately as 95–110 km if the spontaneous-emission altitude is assumed to be at ~150 km (and it is about 190–220 km if the spontaneous-emission altitude is ~300 km). We discuss the mechanisms that may result in forming the observed area of airglow, including the mechanisms connected with the physical and chemical interaction of fuel products with atmospheric components and the influence of propagation of a shock wave or short-period internal gravitational waves. Probable causes of the delay observed in appearing the airglow after the spacecraft’s flyby are analyzed.