[AZ-Observing] Re: [EVAC] ISS overpass -- Web resource for predictions
- From: "Neville Cole" <nevillecole@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 15:47:40 -0700
Actually, you *can* track the ISS, and other satellites, with some stock
Meade telescopes.
I have done this dozens of times using my 12" Meade LX200-GPS. It takes
some planning and setup ahead of time, and video game skills certainly come
in handy during the actual passes. It's a fun activity you can do from
light polluted back yards, or when the moon is bright. Some evenings I'll
spend an hour during twilight jumping from satellite to satellite and will
watch 6 or 7.
The ISS is the only one I have seen that shows any detail though, the rest
are just tiny specs. It's a real hoot the first time you see the solar
panels sticking out of the different modules like wings from a fuselage. It
looks alot like an airplane flying by actually. I would say the wow-factor
is right up there with seeing Saturn for the first time. Apparently it's
even better when the space shuttle is docking and/or docked - hopefully
there'll be some opportunities to see this soon.
At first it's hard to track them, but it gets easier with practise. I still
miss passes completely sometimes, but this is usually because it's not dark
enough yet, or I can't get moved over to the next satellite fast enough.
The particulars of the different passes have an effect as well, mainly
because of the angular speed of the satellite. For ISS passes that go
higher than about 70 degrees, my Meade in Alt-Az configuration falls behind
on when the Az axis does it's pirouette. The low passes are good to learn
on because their angular speed is slower and makes tracking pretty easy.
I wasn't prepared to use my Meade to track this one on the 26th, and the
pass was too high anyways. According to Heaven's Above, the alt. was going
to be around 88 deg.
For a laugh I tried tracking this pass with my 20x80 binoculars. Of course
I wasn't able to track it very well, but I'm sure I spotted some structure
too. Definitely cool!
Neville
----Original Message Follows----
From: Jeff Hopkins <phxjeff@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, rgpeterson@xxxxxxx,EVAC ASTRO
<evac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: [EVAC] ISS overpass -- Web resource for
predictions
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 19:33:05 -0700
Great show. Amazingly bright. I could almost see some structure if
the ISS with my binoculars. A real treat. Thanks for the heads up.
Jeff
At 15:12 -0700 3/26/05, gene lucas wrote:
>Randy Peterson wrote:
>
>> Saturday night the 26th, the International Space Station will pass
>> directly over the metro Phoenix area. Look to the northwest horizon
>> at about 7:25 pm. It will take about 5 minutes for it to pass
>> overhead and disappear on the southeast horizon. It is about as
>> bright as the star Sirius.
>> It goes too fast to track with a normal telescope, but it is fun to
>> follow it with binoculars. If you don't have binoculars, naked eyes
>> work good too.
>> Randy Peterson
--
Jeff Hopkins
HPO SOFT
http://www.hposoft.com/Astro/astro.html
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