01-26-2017, 04:31 PM
Sorry to hear that, HOTPE. It's one reason I much prefer using Heavens Above (HA) for ISS passes. SpotTheStation is great for alerts but lacks some details. With HA, as long as it has your position, it includes the direction to look at the ISS's highest point. The site will also give you a sky plot (so you can figure out how close it gets to bright stars and planets, including the moon) and also a plot of the ground track, so it's easy to see if it's east, west or right over us plus where to look when it rises.
Just a word of warning, if you use HA for Iridium flares, the ground track is for the center of the flare on the ground, not the track of the satellite. It can be quite misleading until you realize what it's showing.
And yes, Venus is spectacular right now! I don't know if you saw a link I posted in another recent thread, but it's sometimes nice to know exactly what you are looking at. I suspect you know already, but others might find this interesting. It's a rapid-fire 101 course on Venus by Phil Plait. It's quite enjoyable!
https://youtu.be/ZFUgy3crCYY
Just a word of warning, if you use HA for Iridium flares, the ground track is for the center of the flare on the ground, not the track of the satellite. It can be quite misleading until you realize what it's showing.
And yes, Venus is spectacular right now! I don't know if you saw a link I posted in another recent thread, but it's sometimes nice to know exactly what you are looking at. I suspect you know already, but others might find this interesting. It's a rapid-fire 101 course on Venus by Phil Plait. It's quite enjoyable!
https://youtu.be/ZFUgy3crCYY