ISS, Tiangong, Satellites Over Puna

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Yes, same cloud from my vantage point. So close, but no cigar.

“Facts fall from the poetic observer as ripe seeds.” -Henry Thoreau

[TomK]

It's been a while...

There's a bright pass of the ISS Thanksgiving night but is very low in the sky. However, there's an even brighter one Friday evening (24th November).

Rises just after 18:14 in the SW and passes high across the sky. The highest point is 71 degrees above the horizon in the NW (just look up, you should see it if the sky is clear) at around 18:17:30 and sets in the NW around 18:20:40. Mag -3.6 which is very bright for ISS passes - close to Venus at its brightest.

Sky track: https://goo.gl/be1rFU

Ground track: https://goo.gl/dHZeCV

[TomK]

Just a quick reminder for tomorrow evening if the clouds stay away.

[TomK]

Oh well, there's always the next pass...

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Tomorrow evening, Dec 8th at 6:33 PM we have a space station other than the usual ISS crossing our skies. Tiangong 1, the first manned Chinese space station will make a relatively bright appearance at 0.7 magnitude. The Chinese already have an updated station, the Tiangong 2 in orbit, so Tiangong 1 is presently unoccupied, out of control, and expected to re-enter the atmosphere sometime before April 2018. It's not anywhere near as large as the ISS, but large enough that it will burn brightly, with some larger pieces expected to reach earth.

So take a look tomorrow, it may be one of the few opportunities we'll get to see it while still in orbit, before it tumbles back to earth.

http://www.heavens-above.com/passdetails.aspx?lat=19.6025&lng=-154.9416&loc=HPP&alt=-7&tz=UCT10&satid=37820&mjd=58096.1915440373&type=V

"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -James Madison, The Federalist Papers, 1787

[PaulW]

Thanks! Okay, I'll look to the NW at 6:32.

[TomK]

Thank you, HOTPE. For those who know their constellations, it's going to pass right through the middle of Cassiopeia (the Big W) at its brightest. Look north at around 18:33 and about halfway up from the horizon to the zenith and you should see it.

As others have mentioned, this object is out of control and there are going to be fewer chances to see it before it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. Thanks to the Chinese space people, this may well end up with bits and pieces hitting the Earth's surface, but not on Fri Dec 8th...

[PaulW]

bump 6:32pm today (Friday)

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Yes!
I wasn't sure if it would visible tonight, but fortunately there were enough breaks in the cloud cover to get a relatively good view. Here's a little more background on the Tiangong 1 spacecraft:

Launched September 29, 2011
First mission - the unmanned Shenzhou 8, successfully docked with the module in November 2011
Second mission - the manned Shenzhou 9 mission docked in June 2012
Third and final mission to Tiangong-1, the manned Shenzhou 10, docked in June 2013

As TomK clarified, tonight was a normal orbital pass across the sky. At some point over the next four months however, the Tiangong 1 will begin to reach the upper atmosphere, the orbit will further decay, and the space station will re-enter, burn up, with some of the larger parts returning to earth. Because the station no longer can be controlled, it's re-entry cannot be scheduled for a predetermined time or directed to a specific location. We should know several days before it happens, and if I see an estimated time or location I'll post it here.

"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -James Madison, The Federalist Papers, 1787

[PaulW]

I got a few glimpses as well, great stuff.