Space Station Spotting
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
Try www.heavens-above.com
You can register for free. Just put in your location in the UK and you will be able to get a list of passes of the ISS (and Shuttle when it's in orbit) and many other orbiting objects visible from where you live.
I'm on an oil rig in the Central North Sea. Any idea of websites where one simply puts in a Lat and Long for viewings, tried a Google search...You can register for free. Just put in your location in the UK and you will be able to get a list of passes of the ISS (and Shuttle when it's in orbit) and many other orbiting objects visible from where you live.
I came on shift and spotted this on PH too late to have a chance of seeing it. But we currently have a bright red moon over all the rigs on the horizon with their flares burning. Looks awesome
Cheers, R
ETA: I have worked out how to do it....
Edited by Raffles on Saturday 20th October 19:56
Third time lucky. Easily visible this time.
As I said earlier, heavens-above.com (you need to register but it's free) provides a list of passes for the next few days. Hopefully, a few with the Shuttle attached will be visble. It appears slightly brighter when the 90 foot long Shuttle is docked.
On the last mission, I had the good fortune to see the space station being chased across the sky by Atlantis as it closed in for its rendevous and docking. They were separated by two minutes - which equates to about 600 miles at orbital speeds (17,500 mph).
As I said earlier, heavens-above.com (you need to register but it's free) provides a list of passes for the next few days. Hopefully, a few with the Shuttle attached will be visble. It appears slightly brighter when the 90 foot long Shuttle is docked.
On the last mission, I had the good fortune to see the space station being chased across the sky by Atlantis as it closed in for its rendevous and docking. They were separated by two minutes - which equates to about 600 miles at orbital speeds (17,500 mph).
Edited by Eric Mc on Saturday 20th October 19:45
drive2tractors said:
Will we be able to see it again tomorrow? Will we still be able to see it when the Space Shuttle is up with it? (Weather permitting of course!)
Andrew
I have 21st October 17:26 so may be a bit light. Then 19:01 but low. Both in the west going to the east.... ish Whether Starry night is up to date it also has progress following closely.Andrew
22nd at 17:48 then again at 19:23 but lower than 21st.
23 at around 18:11 but getting lower.
Off Software so hope its all up to speed with the correct elements.
Edited to add, logged onto Heavens above and pretty much the same times. Handy site that.
Edited by jmorgan on Saturday 20th October 19:56
Date Mag Starts Ends
Time Alt.Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
20 Oct -1.5 18:39:28 10 W 18:42:16 48 SSW 18:45:03 10 SE
20 Oct 0.7 20:15:46 10 WSW 20:16:51 12 SW 20:17:14 11 SSW
21 Oct -0.3 19:02:38 10 W 19:05:04 24 SSW 19:07:29 10 SSE
22 Oct 0.9 19:26:33 10 WSW 19:27:41 12 SW 19:28:49 10 SSW
23 Oct -0.1 18:13:25 10 W 18:15:51 25 SSW 18:18:17 10 SSE
24 Oct 1.1 18:37:14 10 WSW 18:38:26 12 SW 18:39:37 10 SSW
These are the hevens-above listings up to 29 October. It looks like it wont pass overhead the UK in darlk enough conditions to be seen after 24 October.
The timings shown indicate at what point it reaches 10 degrees above the horizon, what time it reaches maximum altitude above the observer and what time it disappears to the viewer. The "Mag" number indicates maximum brightness (called "magnitude" by astronomers). The bigger the "minus" figure, the brighter the appearance. It seems this recent pass was the brightest for a while (Mag = -1.5).
Unfortunately, I can't get the columns to line up properly with the numbers - which is a bit annoying.
Time Alt.Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
20 Oct -1.5 18:39:28 10 W 18:42:16 48 SSW 18:45:03 10 SE
20 Oct 0.7 20:15:46 10 WSW 20:16:51 12 SW 20:17:14 11 SSW
21 Oct -0.3 19:02:38 10 W 19:05:04 24 SSW 19:07:29 10 SSE
22 Oct 0.9 19:26:33 10 WSW 19:27:41 12 SW 19:28:49 10 SSW
23 Oct -0.1 18:13:25 10 W 18:15:51 25 SSW 18:18:17 10 SSE
24 Oct 1.1 18:37:14 10 WSW 18:38:26 12 SW 18:39:37 10 SSW
These are the hevens-above listings up to 29 October. It looks like it wont pass overhead the UK in darlk enough conditions to be seen after 24 October.
The timings shown indicate at what point it reaches 10 degrees above the horizon, what time it reaches maximum altitude above the observer and what time it disappears to the viewer. The "Mag" number indicates maximum brightness (called "magnitude" by astronomers). The bigger the "minus" figure, the brighter the appearance. It seems this recent pass was the brightest for a while (Mag = -1.5).
Unfortunately, I can't get the columns to line up properly with the numbers - which is a bit annoying.
Edited by Eric Mc on Saturday 20th October 19:58
Found the info on when to see the shuttle on the following web site:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cit...
Just follow the links to your location....can't wait
Andrew
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cit...
Just follow the links to your location....can't wait
Andrew
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