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Did I just see the I.S.S.?

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  • 10-10-2003 8:18pm
    #1
    aidan_dunne
    Registered Users Posts: 2,265 ✭✭✭


    Hi folks. Long time lurker to this forum, first time poster. Anyway, enough of the introductions. :D I'm not really that big an astronomy buff, only really when interesting things like Mars and that kind of thing are visible or satellites and what have you. Anyway, someone told me today that the International Space Station was supposed to be visible this evening for about two minutes travelling roughly SW to S. They said to look out for a pretty bright looking "star" travelling slowly across the sky in that direction at about 19.30 - 19.35 roughly. I knew what to look out for because I'd seen Mir many times over the years until it fell to earth a couple of years ago.

    So, I went upstairs to the spare room with my binoculars (10x magnification) because I reckoned it might be hard to see it with the naked eye with all the lights around here. Did a bit of searching around the sky in roughly that direction but could only pick out a few faint stars. Then, at about 19.32, I managed to see a brighter looking star. Was this it, I wondered? Well, sure enough, it was moving slowly across the sky so I tracked it through my binoculars roughly SW to about S before it went behind a house and I couldn't see it anymore.

    I went to www.heavens-above.com to check if it was the I.S.S. Luckily, despite signing up for that ages ago but never really using it, my username still worked. According to that, it seems that my friend may have been correct and it was indeed the I.S.S. I saw. I'm attaching a screencap of the details Heavens Above gave me.

    So, my question for all the real astronomy buffs in here is, was that actually the I.S.S. I saw earlier on? Because, if it was, that's the first time I've seen it. Like I said, I saw Mir quite a few times when it was still orbiting but I never saw the I.S.S. until now if, as I said, that is indeed what I saw. Could someone confirm this for me please? I'm just curious, that's all. Cheers!


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    #2
    albertw
    Closed Accounts Posts: 395 ✭✭albertw


    Originally posted by aidan_dunne was that actually the I.S.S. I saw earlier on?

    Based on your description then I'd imagine that it was the ISS. I see there is another pass in Portlaoise on Sunday evening, so have a look again at that time, and if you see a similar object then you can be nearly 100% sure that its the ISS.

    The ISS is usually bright enough to see with the unaided eye, and since binoculars will not show you any detail you may find it a better experience to watch it with the naked eye. Eg. tonight at your location it was magnitude 2, which is almost as bright as brightest stars in `The Plough`, and you can make that constellation out in Dublin city Center.

    Cheers,
    ~Al
    --
    www.irishastronomy.org


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