Look up in the sky tonight and you may see some strange blue-green and red clouds.

NASA is testing a new system supporting studies of the ionosphere, according to the Associated Press. The clouds are part of a sounding rocket launch from the Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague tonight, with liftoff scheduled between 9:04 and 9:19 p.m.

NASA has two ground stationsat Wallops and Duck, North Carolina, to view the clouds. But if skies are clear, the clouds should be visible along the Mid-Atlantic from New York to North Carolina.

Canisters will deploy between 4 and 5.5 minutes after launch releasing blue-green and red vapor to form artificial clouds, NASA said in a news release. These clouds, or vapor tracers, allow scientists on the ground to visually track particle motions in space.

The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops will open at 8 p.m. for viewing the flight. For those who want to watch closer to home, NASA has released a visibility map.

Artificial clouds visibility map. Illustration courtesy NASA

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NASA releasing colorful artificial clouds tonight over Mid-Atlantic - Fauquier Times