Captivating ContrailNolan SullivanAward: Top 100
School: minnetonka high school This photo shows a contrail from a rocket launch. Contrails are clouds formed by exhaust from airplanes or rockets under the right conditions. If the air is cold enough, the exhaust, which is mostly composed of water and carbon dioxide, freezes into ice particles and forms a cirrus cloud. Since this photo was taken just after sunset, the sun is not visible from the ground. However, due to the curvature of the Earth, the sun is still visible from the rocket's perspective and sunlight can still reach the contrail. The ice particles reflect some of this light towards the ground, making the contrail look like it is glowing. Another unique aspect of this contrail is how it balloons outwards near the top. When the contrail starts to widen, it means that the rocket has reached the upper limit of Earth's atmosphere. The contrail is experiencing almost zero atmospheric pressure at this point, so it is free to expand. All in all, many branches of physics combine to form this fascinating photo. 
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