ISS, Tiangong, Satellites Over Puna

[TomK]

Thanks, Kukiniloa! I've never tried that. I admit I was a bit skeptical when I read your post, but did a quick calculation and agree it might be possible, and yes, observing in twilight would definitely help due to lower contrast (when it's darker the increased contrast actually makes it harder to see detail in a bright object). You won't see detail, but I think you could make out a basic shape, i.e., spot the main body and solar panels.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

OK, the last few times I've posted the time for an ISS pass we've had cloud covered skies, so this time I thought I'd wait to see if there's a chance we'll have a good view...
Right now, lots of blue sky where I am, so let's hope it holds:

Time: Tonight Wed Jan 25
6:31 PM, Visible: 6 min
Max Height: 53°
Appears: 11° above SSW
Disappears: 11° above NE

"Only fear real things, such as minds full of delusions." -Last Aphorisms

[TomK]

I didn't have a chance to look for it (busy at work). Did you see it, HOTPE? I'm wondering if your recent poor batting average might have had a boost. []

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

No such luck Tom.
I set an alarm, the sky was largely clear, but somehow I managed to miss it???
The only explanation I have is that Venus was so bright, when I tried to stand in a spot to get a good view of both the planet & the ISS, I didn't realize the space station would only get as high as 53 degrees in the sky, and my house must have blocked it's path.

Venus was really something though!

"Only fear real things, such as minds full of delusions." -Last Aphorisms

[TomK]

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

[Anxious Messiah]

Wednesday's pass was great! One of the better passes in the last few months. And yes, HA is far better than StS, but use both.

_________________________________________
Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

How much cloud cover can we get in the next two hours?

Time: Fri Feb 17
7:30 PM,
Visible: 4 min, Max Height: 69°, Appears: 11° above NW, Disappears: 32° above SSE

No child will ever again doubt they could grow up and someday become president of the United States

[TomK]

There's the odd decent pass of the ISS late this month, but in the meantime, there's an extremely bright Iridium flare predicted for Saturday 18th March at 19:47:23 (for Kaloli Point). It'll be at an elevation of around 46 degrees above the horizon in the SSE (Orion's belt will be pointing close to where it occurs to help find it). It's predicted to be magnitude 8.1 for the lower HPP area which is incredibly bright - if you're looking in the right direction at the time and the sky is clear, it'll be hard to miss even though it'll only last for a few seconds.

Details nearer the time.

[PaulW]

Thanks!

[TomK]

The good news about this event is that the center of the flare is slightly inland from Kaloli Point, so the flare will be even brighter for those in central HPP. As I mentioned, I'll provide more details nearer the time.

Hoping for clear skies that evening: HOTPE - be careful what you write, let's not jinx this!