Watching the launch of the Space Shuttle video, I note at about time 1:36 and 1:41 the appearance of shock-waves traversing across the screen perpendicular to the Shuttles direction. Is this indeed the case? The speed the Shuttle was less then a 1000 mph (per the Shuttle Director’s announcement).
Look about 1’25" in on this video: Shuttle Shockwave in the Clouds at Night
Shockwaves show up at about the same altitude/speed as in your footage.
Day launch of STS-129 shows a nice shockwave about 30 seconds into flight.
Your footage likely shows lensing by shockwaves rather than cloud effects.
At certain speeds/pressures, STS shows ‘shock wave clouds’ as water vapor becomes suddenly visible when the pressure changes around the vehicle’s parts as they are accelerated through the atmosphere. The visibility and appearance of this pressure ‘gradient’ (forget true words) is variable, but is definitely there. How apparent the effect is varies, of course.
A bit more of an explanation here rather than copy/pasting another persons posting (spaceflight forum)…
IMO, few pictures convey “hauling ass” so well as when the STS goes through that ‘barrier’ and punches right on through it. Just awesome visually (and worth every effort it takes…gonna miss them ladies! only 3 launches remain now)
:dubious: