FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Re: ISS and Hubble passes

[Jeff Hopkins <phxjeff@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great sight tonight. The ISS was very bright , but the HST was full 
of surprises. The HST was fairly faint until it approached the 
meridian. All of a sudden it seemed brighten several magnitudes. I 
was watching with binoculars and it was startling and very 
impressive. As it passed to the East it flashed three times before 
winking out.

Good show1

Thanks Randy.

Jeff

At 11:52 -0700 1/14/06, Randy Peterson wrote:
>Next Tuesday, January 17, there will be a good pass over the metro 
>Phoenix area (and a good deal of Arizona) by the International Space 
>Station.  At about 6:25 pm MST, face north, and look to the 
>northwest.  It is bright enough that you don't need optical aid, 
>being brighter than Mars.  At about 6:28 pm it will pass roughly 
>overhead.  It will be fading into the southeast horizon a bit after 
>6:30 pm.  Yep, a bit over 5 minutes from horizon to horizon, so if 
>you don't set a timer to remind you to go outside to look, you'll 
>miss it.
>Hold on - the show's not over yet!  About eleven minutes later that 
>same night, at about 6:41 pm MST, face south, and look to the 
>west-southwest.  Bright enough to be seen naked eye (but 
>considerably dimmer than the ISS) will be the Hubble Space 
>Telescope, shining a bit dimmer than Polaris.  At 6:45 pm, it will 
>pass due south at about 42 degrees altitude from the Phoenix area - 
>about half way from the southern horizon to your zenith (straight 
>up).  At 6:48 pm, it will fade into the east-southeast horizon.
>
>Check it out at Heavens Above: http://www.heavens-above.com/
>
>I have watched these with binoculars in the past on occasion, but 
>just watching with my unaided eye seems more satisfying to me. 
>Clear skies!
>
>Randy Peterson
>EVAC Events co-coordinator
>events@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

-- 
Jeff Hopkins
HPO SOFT
http://www.hposoft.com/Astro/astro.html
Hopkins Phoenix Observatory
7812 West Clayton Drive
  Phoenix, Arizona 85033-2439 U.S.A.
www.hposoft.com
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