FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Re: [EVAC] Space Station Flyover Monday Night

[Greg Askins <gregaskins@xxxxxxx>]

Tom,

Thanks for the heads up.

We rounded up two families from our neighborhood and went over to  
Desert Breeze Park (SSW corner). Ran into at least one EVAC member  
and another family we've met at other events for the kids. Probably  
at least 10 kids or so, plus the adults.

We did get to see the ISS pass in front of the moon! Pretty cool, and  
I think the kids were interested.

Thanks again for the heads up!

Greg Askins
Chandler, AZ

P.S. At least a couple of parents forwarded your email to our 7th  
grader's science teacher at Aprende MS (bordering Desert Breeze). His  
teacher told the class about the event this morning; hopefully some  
other kids were able to see it as well this evening.



On Apr 13, 2008, at 10:47 AM, Tom Polakis wrote:

> On Monday, April 14, there will be an excellent pass of the  
> International Space Station over Phoenix.  The ISS reaches will  
> appear low in the northwest at 7:33 p.m., and pass nearly through  
> the zenith.  It will disappear into the earth's shadow at 7:38,  
> when it will be low in the southeast.
>
> Since the moon is in the sky, it was worth checking the CalSky Web  
> site (http://www.calsky.com/) to see where the Space Station could  
> be seen to pass in front of the moon.  Since the ISS is only 300  
> miles away when it's near the moon, parallax is significant; the  
> path width is only 3 miles.  Go outside that path, and you see only  
> a near miss.  It's best to be on the centerline.
>
> I plotted the centerline over the Valley, and uploaded three images  
> to my Web site.
>
> http://members.cox.net/tpolakis/astro/ISS_path_20080414.jpg
>
> The first image is obviously an overview.  Scroll down to the next  
> two to find better detail that will put you on the centerline.   
> Note that since the ISS travels at 1 degree per second, it takes  
> only a half second to cross the moon's disc.
>
> Provided you're willing to travel, events that involve a  
> silhouetted ISS in front of the moon or sun are common.  But this  
> event is rare in that the ISS will be illuminated brightly during  
> the transit.  Its surface brightness will likely be quite a bit  
> higher than the sun.
>
> How do I know that CalSky works?  I used it this past Tuesday to  
> produce this image of the ISS transiting the sun.
>
> http://www.pbase.com/polakis/image/95364577
>
> Tom
>
>
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