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Author
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Topic: Station-spotting: ISS and spacecraft sightings
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spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 01-23-2014 02:01 AM
   
I've always used Heavens Above to see when passes are going to occur. Once you know when it's going to appear and as long as you choose passes where the brightness is significant it's impossible to miss. It's like the largest, brightest star in the sky except moving very steadily and smoothly. |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 01-23-2014 05:55 AM
The Flyby App is excellent for this. It shows time, direction, elevation and even tells you when it is overhead during the transit. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 01-23-2014 02:52 PM
I've seen the ISS many times going back to the very early days. There is one special time though.In early April 2002 my late partner, Janet, and I stood outside in each others arms on her birthday and watched it pass overhead. It was the first time she had seen it. We called it our 'wishing star'. I know that my wish came true. I hope that Janet's did too for nine months later I again held her close in my arms as she died. |
JBoe
Member Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 01-23-2014 08:03 PM
Thanks guys for the guidance and advice. Moorouge, thank you for sharing your wonderful experience and story about you and Janet. |
JBoe
Member Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 08-04-2014 07:06 PM
So I signed up for the email notifications for the NASA Spot the Station and for some reason they are arriving in my inbox time late of one day. Has anyone else experienced the same? |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 08-04-2014 11:00 PM
The emails do sometimes come late, but the last one was 4 hours early. I always get the texts early, about 12 hours early for the sighting this morning. |
MarylandSpace
Member Posts: 1336
From:
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 12-27-2014 12:07 PM
In Maryland tonight, there will be an excellent (-3.2 brightness) viewing opportunity of the International Space Station. It will occur from 5:39 to 5:45 pm with the ISS traveling from the NW to the SE.Check your local listings for viewing in your part of the world. |
COR482932
Member Posts: 212
From: Cork, Ireland
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 12-28-2014 06:13 AM
For anybody interested, if you're looking to take star trail photos to show the ISS flying overhead, I highly recommend the NightCap Pro app for iPhone on the App Store. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 12-28-2014 09:03 PM
I got a fantastic view of ISS as it flew over Tampa earlier tonight. It was the brightest I remember seeing it. |
sev8n
Member Posts: 234
From: Dallas TX USA
Registered: Jul 2012
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posted 09-20-2015 10:20 PM
quote:
Originally posted by JBoe:
I really want to start observing the ISS on a regular basis, but my biggest problem is how to locate it.
I have found a couple of smartphone apps that list sighting opportunities, inclinations, durations etc. using the GPS in your phone. They also allow you to set alarms for upcoming passes. |
JBoe
Member Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 09-21-2015 03:36 AM
Thanks for pointing me in the direction of those apps! I'll have to look through the Apps store for those. |
sev8n
Member Posts: 234
From: Dallas TX USA
Registered: Jul 2012
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posted 09-21-2015 11:48 AM
I have two apps on my phone, ISS Finder is the better of the two with regards to sighting details. The other is ISS Spotter, I like it for the Position function, it shows the location of the ISS over what appears to be Google Maps. Both apps are free.The best part about either is that you can have your phone in hand while looking for the ISS. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 03-22-2016 12:28 PM
I remember seeing the Skylab space station flying overhead a few times back in the 1970s. Did anyone else see Skylab? |
Peter downunder
Member Posts: 57
From: Lancefield, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 03-25-2016 12:51 AM
Has anyone used this for viewing the aurora? Living in central Victoria, I've seen the display only four times in my life. Memorable experiences, to say the least. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 03-25-2016 06:53 AM
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
Did anyone else see Skylab?
Yes, and Apollo Soyuz. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 03-22-2018 05:59 PM
Tonight at 8:59 PM EDT, the ISS will make a visible 87 degree overhead pass over Spring Hill, Florida. Shortly after it passes, you should be able to see the Soyuz chasing it on the same track. Look on the tracking maps to see where they will pass over Florida. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 03-22-2018 09:51 PM
From a KSC news release in December 1973: SKYLAB, LAUNCH DEBRIS, VISIBLE FROM EARTHThe Skylab Orbital Workshop is clearly visible to the great bulk of the earth's population as it orbits the globe at an altitude of 270 miles between 50 degrees north and south latitudes. Depending upon sighting angles and other factors, the orbital workshop launched from KSC on May 14 can appear as brilliant as a first magnitude star or as dim as a star just within the threshold of human vision. Skylab should be an object of interest in the heavens for years to come. According to computations made at the Marshall Space Flight Center, its orbital decay and fiery reentry will not occur until 1981. A number of bright objects can still be seen at times with the naked eye, preceding or trailing Skylab in its orbit. Six pieces of Skylab 1 are clearly visible. These include the Skylab 1 second stage, due to reenter in June, 1975, and a Solar Array Wing, scheduled to reenter in January, 1977. Four payload shroud panels jettisoned after orbital insertion of Skylab 1 are among the visible objects. These have reentry dates of September, 1975; March, 1975; August, 1975, and December, 1975. Skylab 1 debris still in orbit but not visible to the naked eye includes two retro rocket covers, one piece of the Skylab micrometeoroid shield, a sample array extension boom and six miscellaneous fragments. Skylab 1 objects with orbits that have already decayed include two retrorocket covers, an Orbital Workshop radiator cover, three miscellaneous fragments and a piece of the Skylab micrometeoroid shield. Because of differing altitudes and rates of orbital precession, their orbits are intersecting in such a fashion that some objects may be seen going northwest to southeast while others go southwest to northeast at the same time.
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ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 03-23-2018 12:16 PM
Saw the ISS last night, clear as can be. Had to wait about 20 minutes for Soyuz, which was a slightly lower angle pass. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 03-23-2018 12:34 PM
You don't often get a chance to see two spacecraft on the same pass. That's cool.
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ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 03-24-2018 11:05 AM
Saw it many times when the Shuttle was flying to the ISS. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 03-23-2019 01:30 PM
NASA has this clip of an ISS lunar transit last week. Nine photographs assembled in sequence show the International Space Station, with a crew of six onboard, in silhouette as it transits the Moon at roughly five miles per second, Saturday, March 16, 2019 from Chantilly, Va. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 03-23-2019 02:44 PM
89 degrees at 8PM tonight on an overhead pass. |
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