ISS Viewing

[jaypeecee]

Hi Everyone,

I can't resist saying that my wife and I have just watched the International Space Station (ISS) from our back garden. To be fair, we wouldn't have known exactly what it was. But, using the ISS Detector app, it passed over at the exact time that we were expecting it to go over. No doubt other UKAPS members have also seen the ISS. BTW, no binoculars or telescope used.

JPC 👩‍🚀🛰️

 

[alnitak]

Nice experience you had !
Using heavens above app is also a good tip, all satellites, rockets and ISS are tracked 👍🏻.
Even the frightening Musk Starlink satellites army when they spread all over the sky 😊

 

[jaypeecee]

HI @alnitak

Thanks for the suggestion about the Heavens Above app. I had forgotten about that!

JPC

 

[jaypeecee]

HI @alnitak

Thanks for the suggestion about the Heavens Above app. I had forgotten about that!

JPC

Hi @alnitak & Everyone,

Heavens Above app now installed. Hope to check it out tonight. There is a bright spot in the sky at night that's recently appeared and I'm wondering if it's one of Elon Musk's satellites. It's geostationary, i.e. in the same spot every night.

Thanks again for mentioning this app.

JPC

 

[alnitak]

Hi !

Bright spot is probably not a geostationary satellite, because they are not bright, and thus very difficult to localize and see (it's a real fight to find them, most of the time you need binoculars or telescope). This bright spot could be a planet, Saturn is visible during more or less all the night (yellow-orange and quite low on the horizont), Jupiter is visible during the second part of the night and is yellow and very bright. If you use a binocular, Saturne appears like an oval (you cannot see the ring but you can clearly notice that the shape is not spherical). Jupiter is nice, because with a binocular you can see it's satellites like very thin bright spots around it . From one night to another, their location is changing.

A "trick" to recognize the planet: stars are twinkeling, while planets do not.
Could you try and describe the location of the spot ? at what time ? where in the sky ?

Nice to discuss about sky stargazing (observation, photography) is my second hobby, starting almost every night just at the very moment the lights of my aquarium shut down

As we say: have clear skies

 

[jaypeecee]

Hi @alnitak

Thank you for your reply. Very interesting information. At the next available opportunity, I will try your suggestions with a pair of binoculars. The night sky has been cloudy for the last couple of days so fingers crossed.

JPC

 

[alnitak]

Hi @alnitak

Thank you for your reply. Very interesting information. At the next available opportunity, I will try your suggestions with a pair of binoculars. The night sky has been cloudy for the last couple of days so fingers crossed.

JPC

Hey, i do like people discovering a new aspect of the world... Learning the Sky is like starting the very first tank from scratch. Standards first, say main avenues, then when your knowledge is improving, you just want to explore details, and build your new hobby 🤞
With a binocular you will enjoy discovering many many objects, and summer skies are quite full of monuments ! Just wander along the milky way, and feel how tiny you are, and feel your "belongness" (french approximate translation) in this infinity!

Enjoy !