Cool! I just saw the ISS fly over. Never seen it before. (edited)

[A HERETIC I AM]

Here' a link to a page that shows its position in real time. I saw this about 7 or 8 minutes ago now,and it was interesting. Looked at first just like a star, but was moving pretty fast. I thought it might be a meteorite and waited for it to flare out but it didn't, it just kept moving to the southeast. (edit) I consider myself to be a pretty good identifier of aircraft, and this had no "tip lights" or flashing red belly light or white tail light. It was moving fairly fast, but if DU'er Malaise is reading this, she might still be able to see it now, at 6:52 ET, traveling from the NW to the SE.


http://www.heavens-above.com/orbitdisplay.aspx?icon=iss&width=600&height=300&mode=M&satid=25544

[htuttle]

1. THAT'S NO MOON!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

13. They can moon you from the ISS? Is that legal?? n/t

[slackmaster]

2. I can't wait to point my 12-inch telescope at it next time it comes by

I happened to spot a satellite transiting the full moon through that scope last month. It was freaky - I could see the shape of the thing including color differences of parts of it even against the bright full moon.

The next thing that entered my mind was: Given how well I could see that looking casually up with my <$1,000 telescope, how well must they be able to see me looking down with a million-dollar camera. They could probably have discerned the color of my eye looking up at them.

:hi:

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. LOL...probably.

"They could probably have discerned the color of my eye looking up at them."

I've often thought that the quality of the satellite shots seen by the public, via Google Earth or whatever, are nothing compared to the true capabilities.

[Canuckistanian]

7. It's VERY difficult to follow such a low-orbit satellite with a telescope

They move relatively fast across the sky. You'd be better off with a pair of binoculars.

[slackmaster]

15. I think I could have followed it with my 12-inch Dobsonian at low power if I'd had time to set up

I got home just in time to break out a Maksutov-Cassegrain spotter. That worked!

[Canuckistanian]

17. Cool

Sounds like you've got some neat gear. A Dobsonian would be great with a wide-field eyepiece.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Check your PM's. n/t

[slackmaster]

14. I just saw it through my 90mm spotting scope!

1,200mm focal length, f/13.3 with a 32mm Plossl eyepiece. Low power but not terribly hard to acquire or follow the ISS. ISS looks maybe 3x bigger than Jupiter.

I could make out the solar panels easily. It almost transited the Moon while I watched. Missed touching it by about one lunar diameter.

Thanks for the heads-up, HERETIC!

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. Cool! I've been away from the 'puter for about a half hour but I'm glad you caught it.

As Canuckistanian said, sounds like you have some cool equipment.

Are you able to mount an SLR to any of it? Or is it just for fun? Or are you a shooter also, and that's why you have the spotting scope?

I had a cheapo telescope for a while but gave it to one of my ex's children. I'm fasinated by the night sky and even more so by all Space Programs of all nations.

[slackmaster]

19. I recently bought a new Canon DSLR and the adapters to hook it up to two telescopes

I'm just figuring out how to put things together. I have a little experience in astronomy, almost 50 years of photography. It's fun seeing how things like camera filters often screw right into telescope eyepieces, extension tubes, etc. I often joke about our country's biggest problem being our ongoing failure to adopt the Metric System, but when you get into optics or any kind of science or engineering you have no choice.

I bought the 90mm scope both for spotting in target shooting, and for astronomy. I was planning to try it out for spotting this weekend but rain looks likely. It's worked out better than I expected for planets and the Moon.

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. Very nice! I would think the DU Skywatchers can anticipate....

a photo thread from you in the near future?

[slackmaster]

22. I need a couple of months to figure it out and get some decent observation time

Thanks for the invitation!

[bobw999]

3. Its awesome.

One time I've seen the ISS pass by the Space Shuttle. That was a really long time ago.

[A HERETIC I AM]

20. Thanks for checking into the thread, Bob, and welcome to DU......oh hell....edit..

My apologies for the response being 2 hours after your post, but there you go!

Where in America's penis are you?

Charlotte County here, Englewood specifically.

Edit - you've been here for over two years.

So a belated welcome.

I, like many I suppose, consider anyone with a post count less than 100 or so to have just joined a week or so ago.

You've been a member since 2008. My mistake.

[tridim]

4. I saw the ISS and the shuttle orbiting together a few times this summer.

I gathered my neighbors during the first orbit and said to them, "Watch that spot on the horizon in exactly.... 90 seconds". They were very impressed with my accuracy. :)

The most interesting part IMO was that I could sense the rotation of the Earth as the pair orbited from north to south because their path made an obvious bend as they passed overhead. So cool to see.

[Canuckistanian]

9. I saw it once just after they separated

It was neat to see two distinct points of light go across the sky along the same path.

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. That was the case with me as well (the bend)

Air traffic flies overhead all the time(like most places), headed either to Miami, Ft. Lauderdale or to Ft. Myers and it is generally easy to pick out which is which based on the flight path - straight south for Ft. Meyers, ESE to FT. Lauderdale, SE to Miami, etc. This was WAY up there, west of a normal track for FT. Myers but with a discernible curve to it. It is just cool as hell to know there are people living in that thing 220 miles up.

[amerikat]

5. I saw it once years ago.

I saw it once years ago. The sun had gone below the horizon but was
still illuminating the sky. Must have been one of those freak atmospheric
conditions cause I could see it's shape. Solar panels and all. I think
the weather conditions acted like a lens to make it look so big and detailed.

[spanone]

8. been watching it for years.....it's even brighter when the shuttle is attached to it

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Damn! It's approaching Maylaysia already.

http://www.heavens-above.com/orbitdisplay.asp?satid=25544

[lonestarnot]

16. Way 'at! Wish I had been there!

[uppityperson]

23. It is very fun to check heavens above and wait,watch, wave

We started watching for it last summer and are happy whenever it is visible and the skies are clear. Very neat.

First time we waited, trying to guess "is that it"? Finally it showed up and it was Ohhhhhhhh, obvious that it was the ISS. Either that or a non-blinking plane that just happened to show/move right. Haven't had to use any sort of instrument but that webpage, clock and eyes.