International Space Station pass

[nytecam]

Pic below of the ISS pass over SW London @ 1745UT this evening from my garden and I won't mention the lost handbag that believe it or not has been spotted trailing ISS in binoculars from the ground

The orange sky glow on cloudbase caused by poorly designed street-lighting typical throughout the UK that ruin the night sky

[Ruth Daniel]

Brilliant shots Nytecam!
Is it visible for a few nights to come this week?
I wonder where the handbag will end up eh?

[nytecam]

Originally Posted by Ruth Daniel

Is it visible for a few nights to come this week?
I wonder where the handbag will end up eh?

Hi Ruth - should be - check Heavens-Above Home Page and enter nearest town/village for 10 day prediction.

Site also has predictions for the Iridium series of satellites each with a door-sided 'mirror' that catches sunlight at twilight [typically twice a day] that can appear as a brilliant 'star' for a few second virtually anywhere in the sky. Its time/sky location is given and with friends present it's like a bit of personal magic to point your finger at a bit of [clear] sky and say "in 10 seconds behold!"

[Ruth Daniel]

Originally Posted by nytecam

Hi Ruth - should be - check Heavens-Above Home Page and enter nearest town/village for 10 day prediction.

Thanks for the link Nytecam.....it would seem there are no more passes for a while.....unless I've read it wrong??

A fascinating site,now safely saved into my faves!

[Jason Green]

Hi Nytecam,

Thanks for posting, very interesting stuff The link should be an interesting resource.

So, did the Space Station appear to be like a normal star or fly like a comet? How long did it last for, minutes or seconds?

More happens in the sky than I first thought, I saw a planet earlier this year, V. memorable!!

[carlos_dfc]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

So, did the Space Station appear to be like a normal star or fly like a comet? How long did it last for, minutes or seconds?

The ISS takes a few minutes to cross the sky.
However - depending what time of night, and your location - you can see it from anything around a few seconds - right up to the several minutes it takes to cross the whole sky.

Because of it's height, it is still in sunlight, even though we are in darkness (it's the reflected sunlight that we see from the ground)
Eventually, it heads into the Earth's shadow - it's still there, just that we can't see it.

It appears like a bright star, which moves across the sky about the speed of an aeroplane - when it heads into the Earth's shadow, it dims and looks orangey until it completely fades.
Binoculars help the view - and in fact I have seen hints of detail with nothing more than standard 10x50 binoculars - the glare can sometimes be too much to see details in binocs, but you can often catch some details as it fades.

The toolbag is roughly 7th magnitude (the dimmest star you can see from a countryside observing site is about 6th magnitude) so it isn't visible by naked-eye - but binoculars will pick it up if you get yor timing right.
It is about 5 mins ahead of the station, and follows pretty much the same track across the sky

Unfortunately, ISS passes are done for the latest 'session' - but they come round regularly - give it another few weeks, and re-check 'Heavens-above'

In the meantime - it's interesting to watch for Iridium flares - details of these are also available on heavens-above.
Imagine reflecting the Sun onto a wall, for a cat to play with - using a watch-face, or small mirror.
This is pretty mush what an Iridium flare is - the Sun bounces off reflective surfaces of the 'Iridium' series of satellites - and if you are in the small area on the ground where the sunlight is reflected, you see the satellite 'flare' - often VERY bright, for a period of 2 to 20 seconds
These are very localised events - so enter your co-ordinates into heavens-above as accurately as possible - as little as a mile off, and it can make a big difference to the predicted brightness - may not even show at all.
Iridium flares are very commonly mistaken as UFOs

[Jason Green]

Carlos - thanks so much for your in-depth reply. So it moves about the same speed as an aeroplane - I'll look out for it then

Apparently I should see Genesis around 5pm for a few nights, so I'll keep a look out.

Fascinating stuff.

[nytecam]

Originally Posted by Ruth Daniel

Thanks for the link Nytecam.....it would seem there are no more passes for a while.....unless I've read it wrong??A fascinating site,now safely saved into my faves!

Hi Ruth - here's passes via Heavens-Above.com for south London until the end of month ....

Date Mag Starts Max. altitude Ends
Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
27 Nov -1.9 17:03:52 10 WSW 17:06:44 55 SSE 17:08:51 16 E
27 Nov 0.1 18:39:08 10 W 18:40:29 24 W 18:40:29 24 W
28 Nov -2.4 17:30:44 10 W 17:33:40 87 S 17:34:45 35 E
28 Nov 1.3 19:06:07 10 W 19:06:22 12 W 19:06:22 12 W
29 Nov -1.9 16:22:21 10 WSW 16:25:15 59 SSE16:28:09 10 E
29 Nov -2.4 17:57:39 10 W 18:00:34 81 N 18:00:34 81 N
30 Nov -2.3 16:49:06 10 W 16:52:02 90 NNW16:54:44 12 E
30 Nov -0.7 18:24:29 10 W 18:26:20 35 W 18:26:20 35 W

I also tested ISS for Liverpool and Glasgow and it's there each evening generally somewhat lower in the sky as one moves north. ISS is typically brighter than any star and thus unmistakable. Good luck

[Ruth Daniel]

That's brilliant,thanks very much for taking the time to post this Nytecam!!

[Ruth Daniel]

WOW!!
I've just seen it!!!
It was very bright,almost as bright as Venus and travelling quicker than I though it would away from Venus/Jupiter North Easterly!!
Living so close to Manchester airport makes it difficult but the ISS doesn't flash,lol!!
Amazing,thanks Nytecam!!!!