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TomK,
The Iridium flare should be visible July 16th as you noted, which is tomorrow night, Sunday, instead of tonight. Let's hope the clear skies hold for another day.
Four people are in a room and seven leave. How many have to enter again before it's empty?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Oops, sorry about that. Yes, Sunday night. Thanks for spotting that.
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Tried to see it but there was too much cloud. Anyone have any luck?
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I'm not sure the weather is going to cooperate, but there is an extremely bright pass of the ISS tomorrow evening (Saturday 22nd July). It rises in the SW at around 19:45, is at its highest at 19:49 (73 degrees above the horizon in the SE, but look pretty much straight up, if it's clear, you'll see it) and sets in the NE around 19:52. For those that know their stars and constellations, it passes very close to the bright star Alpha Lyra (Vega), just SW of the constellation Cygnus (the swan), in the NE.
Incidentally, Vega is used as the fundamental calibration star in the astronomical magnitude (brightness) system. More details on request (I could write an essay on this!).
Sky track:
https://goo.gl/4Bh2Ty
Ground track:
https://goo.gl/yj8SGP
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I'm not sure the weather is going to cooperate
It does look like the remnants of Fernanda are filling up the sky today, but if there is cloud cover during the ISS pass tonight, here's a new way to view the space station.
Google Street View has added Google Outer Space View to their map selection. The ISS is now fully accessible for a self guided tour of the interior. Try it with an iPad or iPhone held in front of you, and watch the view rotate to match your orientation. Remember, if you try this at home, there's no up or down in space.
Here's a good place to start, at the Cupola Observation Module window:
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5602853,...000!8i5000
Four people are in a room and seven leave. How many have to enter again before it's empty?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
Posts: 11,097
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Joined: Sep 2012
Pretty decent pass tonight, considering the fairly heavy cloud cover. There were several patches of clear sky in the southwest where the ISS could be seen at its full brightness. Even as it climbed higher in the sky through areas of increasing cloud cover, it was still visible, fading in and out of view. Anyone else spot the station tonight?
Four people are in a room and seven leave. How many have to enter again before it's empty?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Yep, same experience here. It went into clouds just as it passed Vega and stopped watching then. Shame about the cloud as you really couldn't get an idea of how bright it really was, although it clearly outshone Vega by a lot.
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I was just watching the clear sky and saw quite a few diffuse flashes of light. Someone said it might be from a solar flare. Anyone know anything?
Steve Bohlert
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Steve Bohlert
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Was this tonight (Sunday)? A solar flare won't give you diffuse flashes in Hawaii, you need to be much farther north to see the northern lights. I suspect you're seeing lightning from the storm (remnants from Fernanda) which is just north of the island.
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PS. No solar flares affecting the Earth right now. For those interested, spaceweather.com gives a layperson's interpretation of what the sun is doing and how it may affect us:
http://www.spaceweather.com/
For raw data and lots more info, NOAA and the NWS has a space weather site:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
