Space Station Spotting

[Eric Mc]

Simond001 said:

Is trhe space staion etc still floating around for us to see.

Bought myself a Telescope after the October post, and never used it apart from looking at the moon for 2 minutes!

What do you think this thread is all about?

And you don't need a telescope. Eyeball is best.

[Eric Mc]

I gave it a miss tonight as I was just back from one of my musical society rehearsals. It would have been nice to spot the Progress though.

[Eric Mc]

I get immense pleasure from showing it to other people. They are always impressed - and surprised that all this activity is going on 200 miles above their heads.

[Eric Mc]

Yes.

And this time there are two blokes floating around on the outside - not that you'll be able to see them mind. In fact they are just finishing up in readiness for going back inside.
They've been doing work on the outside of the new Columbus module.

Live on NASA TV at the moment.

[Eric Mc]

Wasn't able to look out for it tonight as I was giving someone a lift.

[Eric Mc]

Saw it.

I think its quite good to see it against a brighter background.

It can look a bit unexciting - until you realise that it is 220 miles above your head travelling at 17,500 mph and there are ten people on it.

[Eric Mc]

We had a similar situation on Friday - except the time gap was just over 20 minutes =- and 6,000 miles.

I migt start looking out for the satellite USA 193 (the one expected to re-enter before the end of the month). It is due to pass over the UK over the next few weeks. In fact, on heavens-above at the moment it looks like its heading out way in the next twenty minutes - although its not listed on their "passes table" for tonight. I'll just keep an eye on their globe motif to see if it really will cross Britain tonight.

Edited by Eric Mc on Tuesday 12th February 22:17

[Eric Mc]

Right - it definitely crossed the UK a few minutes ago. I went out into my garden to see if I could spot it. I didn't see what I expected.

Instead of a small dot making its way in a south west to north east direction, i instead saw an orange fireball descending at some speed towards the horizon trailing a long tail of orange flame. I wonder has USA 193 re-entered tonight?

[Eric Mc]

It may have been a meteor, although it seemed much slower than a meteor usually does and it was definitely red/yellow/ornage in colour - instead of the more intense white of a meteor.

[Eric Mc]

USA 193 is still there according to heavens-above so it probably was just a meteor or some random piece of space debris re-entering.

It was spectacular all the same.

[Eric Mc]

I'm feeling quite chuffed - but witnessing such events is all a matter of luck.

I saw something similar way back in 1989 when on holiday in Yugoslavia (as it still was back then).

I also saw what looked like a tumbling piece of space junk when on holiday in Portugal - probably the top stage of a carrier rocket rotating end over end.

[Eric Mc]

No.

Flashing and heading in wrong direction.

[Eric Mc]

8 minutes to the last decent pass for a while.

[Eric Mc]

Ther earlier in the evening it makes an appearance the longer it will stay visible. The logic is that the sun will have just gone down so the station has further to travel across the sky before it enters the earth's shadow.

[Eric Mc]

They're not going to be as bright. Notice that they are all low minuses or postives only. The brighter the appearance, the higher the minus value.

[Eric Mc]

They're not going to be as bright. Notice that they are all low minuses or postives only. The brighter the appearance, the higher the minus value.

[Eric Mc]

I've seen the station once this eeek. It's due over again tonight at 21.05 and the weather is clear - so far.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 4th April 17:41

[Eric Mc]

Saw it no problem 1st pass. The second pass is always very short and dim and I've not been able to see a second pass yet.

[Eric Mc]

Tonight 20.13 - i.e 37 minutes from now.

Clear skies here so expecting an easy spot.

[Eric Mc]

-2.00 is pretty bright. If the sky is clear you should have no trouble spotting it.