[AZ-Observing] Triple pass from Fountain Hills
- From: gene lucas <geneluca@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: AZ-Observing <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:20:23 -0700
A truly impressive "triple pass" this evening, as seen from my
north-facing balcony up here in Fountain Hills.
The Jules Verne ATV module showed up first, right on schedule per
Heavens-Above... I had WWV on an olde RadioSchnark TimeKube ticking away
to keep track of the time... The ATV module appeared pretty bright, as
it came up over my neighbor's rooftop (so it was up ca. 45 deg or more
when I spotted it), pretty much due West and high overhead. I tracked it
with my 8x40 binos until it faded (passed into the Earth's shadow) going
due North, in the Little Dipper.
Several minutes later... Next was the ISS -- this was REALLY bright,
maybe showing some "star spikes" ?? (Can't tell much with my
nearsightedness and astigmatism, but it glinted like a fat star.)
Following along behind on the same track was the undocked Space Shuttle,
fainter than ISS but still brighter than the ATV module. It was
following about 15-20 degrees behind, so I could not get them both in
the same bino field. Watched them as they went North, then faded into
the Earth's shadow.
The ISS became noticeably "gold" colored as it went North and started to
fade.... possibly due to the reflection from the gold-colored solar
panels ? The Shuttle faded similarly, but without the strong color.
I am always a bit surprised at how fast these vehicles seem to move
across the sky... But of course they are in relatively low Earth orbit
(compared to many other satellites). I have been watching sats since the
early 1960s... I remember seeing (and photographing) passes of the Echo
balloon satellites, which were similarly BRIGHT, like the ISS and the
Shuttle... We had the advantage in Ft. Myers of getting the latest orbit
updates and times from our friends at the NASA tracking station (now
dismantled).
Gene Lucas
(17250)
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