Another ISS Pass Heads Up

[sheeny]

There's another couple of ISS evening passes coming up:

On the 15th, it should be a good pass for Melbourne. It's right over Oberon but goes into eclipse just after zenith.

On the 17th is another good one for Sydney area.

Al.

[Matty P]

Thanks for the heads up Al. ;)

I have a very bright mag -2.4 passing on the 15th. This will give me another opportunity to image the ISS. :thumbsup:

[RB]

Thanks Al, looks like another nice pass.

:thumbsup:

[iceman]

Yippee, should be a good one - the shuttle will be attached too!

[Matty P]

Does this mean that the passing will be brighter? :shrug:

[sheeny]

Yep. Once the shuttle and ISS are docked the elements should be updated with a better estimate of the brightness.

Al.

[gman]

Just took the kids over to the park and watched th ISS & the Shuttle orbit over.
Was a bit worried about cloud cover but it broke at the right time and we watched it come out of the SSW.
Picked it up about 20:12pm and watched it for a good 2-3 minutes till it disappeared into cloud cover going into the east

[madtuna]

it was definately brighter than predicted...tomorrow nights should be a beauty!

[gman]

You're right there Steve,
I wasn't sure when I first picked it up whether it was a copter with lights on.
Very bright indeed

[erick]

Hey Grant, tomorrow night should be much better. Tonight was magnitude -1.0 and max altitude 28 deg. Tomorrow (20:32 - 20:37) should be -2.4 magnitude (brighter with shuttle attached?) and 90 deg (that's right, smack through the zenith and with darker sky as well!)

Much the same again Monday night 19:40 - 19:46 (-2.3 mag and 82 deg)

Get that camera on a tripod with long exposure!

[rat156]

Saw both passes tonight.

First pass was great, I didn't know it was happening, just happened to be out setting up the scope. Saw it in the South, couldn't be anything else, so I went over to Heavens above and confirmed the sighting. The next pass was due about an hour later, so I waited for it, even set up the scope to track it.

I didn't check to see when it passed into shadow, which precluded a telescopic vision. Saw it naked eye though, even had dragged the missus and one of the kids out!!

Eagerly awaiting tomorrow night!

Cheers
Stuart

[JethroB76]

The first pass was very impressive from Launceston, prediction of mag -2.4
I think; the clouds behaved for it nicely

[Matty P]

I am looking forward for the bright ISS passing tonight.

If everything goes to plan, I will be waiting with the scope and camera.

Let's hope that the clouds stay away.

[turbo_pascale]

Looks like it's going to be clouded out tonight in Melb.
Disappointing! Hope others catch a glimpse further afar.

[turbo_pascale]

For what it's worth, stood outside looking at the clouds hoping to see something.
I could see haze where the moon was, and could just make out Sirius through the clouds.
Then, the IIS popped over - don't know if it was just a difference in the thickness of the cloud, but it clearly outshone Sirius as it went over.
Would have been magnificent if it weren't for the cloud.

Turbo

[gman]

Here, here Turbo,
Watched it go over overhead at 80+ degrees and it was still very visible through the cloud covering tonights sky.

I think the guys further up north will have a better view.

[erick]

Yes, it sure shone through that cloud up around the zenith. OK, Monday is next major pass.

[sheeny]

Well that was a pretty good pass, here.

I had the scope set up in the back yard to play with the DMK on the moon. Ten minutes before it is due to go overhead a lady from down the street walks past my back fence and spots the scope. She had timed her walk to coincide with when she thought the ISS would pass based on last nights pass, so I was able to tell her it would appear in 7 minutes and be directly over head in 10.:)

When the ISS appeared I started to take some shots of it. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to set manual focus properly due to chatting over the fence but I got some shots. While the ISS was approaching zenith I heard a voice maybe 3 or 4 doors down on the other side of the street saying "oh, look there it is up there! Look!":lol: I think the ISS is becoming a bit of drawcard even with non-astronomers;).

Al.

[iceman]

I was planning to watch it, not image it, because it disappeared at zenith and approached from the SW where there was trees.

But I forgot! :doh:

[RB]

It was another lovely flyover tonight so I gave it another go.
This time I tried to frame it by estimating where the ISS would fade out and some different settings on the camera.

The moon was blazing away 6 to the dozen which adds a nice dimension to it I think.

Anyway it was fun to be out with the kids under the stars again.

[stephend]

About a fortnight ago I was trying to focus on the trapezium in Orion in the early evening through the industrial glare of Newcastle when this truly awesome satellite burst on the scene. Looked more like an airliner with landing lights on. Anyway it blazed away about due East gradually fading and vanished at about 45 degrees from the Eastern horizon.
Following it with naked eye I saw another satellite on a crossing path heading more or less North. This one was bright but not extraordinary. Its feature was that at one point it distinctly flared up for about a second. By distinctly I mean by more than one magnitude.

I figure the first object had to be the ISS. Re the second, satellites just don't do this, do they?

[sheeny]

Yes they can. It's called a flare. The iridium satellites are reknowned for it as they have large solar panels, so when the geometry is right they reflect a lot of sunlight. I have also see the HST flare - the sun reflects off the objective door.

Al.

[erick]

Andrew, everything but a meteor in that shot! Maybe I'd better look a little closer.

I see ISS, Moon, star trails, large and small magellanic clouds, crux, coalsack, aeroplane, and backyard stuff!

[RB]

LOL, I know Eric, it certainly is a busy scene. :)

[Protiotype]

And tonight for people in Brisbane, a -1.9 Mag. ISS.

18:46:48 10° alt., SSW (starts)
18:49:37 44° alt., SE (max altitude)
18:51:16 20° alt., ENE (ends)

Hopefully the forecast "few showers" for today stay at no more than that!

[erick]

Forecast for this evening's pass over Melbourne (approx 19:40 - 19:47, just after sunset) is clear and (gulp!) 34 deg! Get out there folks! :)

[desler]

Erick,

Hi, where did you get tonights info for ISS, Heavens above doesn't list anythingh viewable tonight?


Darren :)

[erick]

That's interesting. I was going from my search a few days ago (see attached). Current Heavens-Above says it passed over at 9:46 this morning.:sadeyes:

Let me guess that when the Shuttle is attached, everything changes!

Sorry guys, learn something new every day.

Edit: Well looks like it did come past as scheduled in my attachments. I was inside moaning that I had missed it! :mad2:

[Meadehead]

It was a great pass tonight! First time I saw it in twilight 10 mins after sunset, at 1946 it was 88 degrees directly above shining bright at Mag -3 :thumbsup: Awsome!

[Protiotype]

Brisbane has been drizzling on and off pretty much the whole day. :-\

[gman]

Desler,

I use NASA for the ISS & Shuttle info
Key in your country - state and then closest town/suburb.
It will then give you a days and times for sightings in your area
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/

[Meadehead]

I use Heavens Above at http://www.heavens-above.com

Once you enter your location, you will get very accurate information including maps of the pass & current location. It has been spot-on every time:thumbsup:

I've just checked but there's no visible pass.
Maybe it has pulled over for refueling:P

[gaa_ian]

Had a look at ISS here this morning.
It is certainly getting BIG, I could even make out that it had a shape with a pair of 16x bino's.
The Space Shuttle was supposed to follow 1 minute later, but might have been a bit faint in the pre-dawn sky.