[AZ-Observing] Re: Excellent ISS and Shuttle pass

An excellent pass, indeed!  I was on my way home and stopped in one of the farm 
fields east of Stone Haven to watch.  Except for the dairy ~1 mile away, it was 
nearly completely dark.  
I saw the Jules Verne cargo ship first.  As I'd forgotten about this aspect of 
the pass, I thought ISS had been dimmed, somehow.  Perhaps they were practicing 
for the  Astronomy Hour event this weekend?   ;-)  I figured, it couldn't be 
the ISS and must be the Endeavor, but how did it get in front of ISS?
A minute or so later I saw ISS brightening very low to the WSW.  Right behind 
it, Endeavor appeared.  It was then I remembered the cargo ship, but not the 
name.  ISS became very bright indeed, and as I hadn't seen it for a while, it 
appeared much brighter than the last pass.
Endeavor did flare brightly about halfway through the pass.  I'd never seen 
that before either, and gave a shout to the night in appreciation.  I imagined 
something polished in the cargo bay catching the Sun just right, spraying a 
beam right at me.  Perhaps Joe Bergeron or Robert McCall could be commissioned? 
 :-)



Steve Dodder
Director, Stone Haven Observatory
President, Saguaro Astronomy Club
sdodder@xxxxxxxxxxx

Visit my web site at http://www.stargazing.net/Astroman


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