The twilight liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday night delivered a celestial show for the West Coast.

The two-stage rocket built by SpaceX blasted off at 8:34 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on the South Base.

The rocket’s first-stage booster, making its third flight, landed on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean.

An hour later, the rocket had deployed 26 more Starlink satellites into orbit, according to SpaceX.

A combination of clear skies and the twilight departure made the flight more picturesque for spectators, including those well beyond Santa Barbara County.

Twilight phenomenon occurs for rocket and missile launches just before sunrise or soon after sunset.

Exhaust particles from missile or rocket propellant left in the contrail condense, freeze and then expand in the less dense upper atmosphere.

As the plume sits against a dark sky, it’s illuminated by sunlight, creating a colorful effect sometimes showing rose, blue, green and other colors — and some of the best views occurring hundreds of miles from the launch site.

When launches were much more infrequent, viewers often mistakenly believed the effect stemmed from a failure, but military officials issued denials and explained the twilight phenomenon.

On Monday night, conditions meant viewers could watch the rocket’s ascent for more than six minutes, capturing the first-stage booster and two fairing halves as they fell away once their chores were done.

Along with a wide swatch of Southern California, including baseball fans at Dodger Stadium, sightings of the launch were reported from people in Arizona and Nevada on Monday night.

It was the 25th Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg in 2025, and the 26th could occur as soon as Friday afternoon.