Thursday night sightings time for Shuttle and ISS

bolty

bolty wrote: »

Missed the ISS - aaahhh - was watching for it with my dad and little sister. Waiting for the shuttle. Should we look towards the horizon or up higher?? West?? Heeeeeeeeelp

Just keep scanning the sky in the west. And be patient because it takes a while for it to get bright.

Another horizon to horizon view from here, it definitely wasn't anything to last nights site, though!

Chicken Run

too much cloud in East Clare for the ISS but just saw the shuttle - West to East about 20-25 secs

lord lucan

Got a very brief glimpse of it as it appeared on the horizon but disappeared behind the mother of all clouds!!

kleefarr

Nothing, too cloudy.

Ostrom

I'm getting heavily rained on so tonight is definately out

jumpguy

Saw it until it went far enough for my poor ole bino's to contend with (which is pretty close to the horizon). I'm getting abit flustered with this now, as I could've sworn I saw the 3 circles again tonight when it was at max alt. Are the engines still firing or are the bino's experiencing some atmospheric distortion? Perhaps the 2 rectangles I'm seeing when I see the ISS are distortion too? Although, when I look at other, smaller satellites there doesn't appear to be any distortion.

Nothing compared to last night, but it's cool to see it again.

Wolverine359

Just saw the shuttle there! Interesting the way it gets brighter as it journeys across the sky. Not as bright as last night though, but still pretty amazing!

Aldebaran

Managed to catch a glimpse of the shuttle for about 5 seconds before it disappeared behind the clouds here in Westmeath.

Stargate

All the last passes of the ISS and the SS were a big no for me here in Cork tonight.


big damn black cloud hanging there all night , pure bummer , whats with this rain in July FFS :mad:

Anyone esle have any luck with the 22:56 pm pass of the SS ?

Stargate

jumpguy

jumpguy wrote: »

Saw it until it went far enough for my poor ole bino's to contend with (which is pretty close to the horizon). I'm getting abit flustered with this now, as I could've sworn I saw the 3 circles again tonight when it was at max alt. Are the engines still firing or are the bino's experiencing some atmospheric distortion? Perhaps the 2 rectangles I'm seeing when I see the ISS are distortion too? Although, when I look at other, smaller satellites there doesn't appear to be any distortion.

You wouldn't see any detail with binoculars, really.

My guess is that it's some form of chromatic aberration.

suzieb

Couldn't see anything out in Balbriggan-way too much cloud

What direction in the sky is Jupiter? I've seen a really bright star like object over last few days at about half 12 in a south easterly direction I think? but not too sure if my co ordinates are right! Its out towards the irish sea anyway looking south from the northside.

joe123

Seen the second there. Looked just like the one around 20 minutes ago.

How come theres so much stuff flying through the sky the last few days? do they not fly up in the shuttle with the next bit of the space station and then fly towards the space station and just attach it?

Can anyone recommend a good website to explain whats happening the last few days to someone who doesnt know much about the happenings of space stations etc in space?

jumpguy

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

You wouldn't see any detail with binoculars, really.

My guess is that it's some form of chromatic aberration.

Thanks, I was wondering what was going on! I'll defo invest in a telescope sometime soon. It's frustrating wondering whether what the heck I'm seeing is correct.

maxim

Just seen the shuttle travelling across the sky - luckily a clear spot here on Cork-Kerry border. Amazing sight, unfortunately missed the viewings last night, but made sure tonight! Worthwhile taking the trouble, will have to check for the next sightings now!

jumpguy

jumpguy wrote: »

Thanks, I was wondering what was going on! I'll defo invest in a telescope sometime soon. It's frustrating wondering whether what the heck I'm seeing is correct.

You'll get chromatic aberration with a scope too (if it's a refractor, that is)! I've always found that the best way to learn the sky is with binoculars, a scope is just too frustrating sometimes.

Dave!

Clouds

jumpguy

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

You'll get chromatic aberration with a scope too (if it's a refractor, that is)! I've always found that the best way to learn the sky is with binoculars, a scope is just too frustrating sometimes.

How disappointing. I've been using the bino's now for the last 2 or so months. They're grand but my greatest annoyance is the lack of stability. Also, Stellarium or anything won't run on my laptop, and the tech guys don't seem as helpful as the astronomy ones (no offence! :P).

ISS is making another pass at 00:06 for anyone interested. Not as bright as the first one tonight (mag -2.7). Big, thundery clouds moving in here now though.

Stargate

jumpguy wrote: »

How disappointing. I've been using the bino's now for the last 2 or so months. They're grand but my greatest annoyance is the lack of stability. Also, Stellarium or anything won't run on my laptop, and the tech guys don't seem as helpful as the astronomy ones (no offence! :P).

ISS is making another pass at 00:06 for anyone interested. Not as bright as the first one tonight (mag -2.7). Big, thundery clouds moving in here now though.

You staying up Jumpguy lol for 00:06?
i have work at 7am ,but il stay up if im not alone LOL

stargate

jumpguy

It's great to be in school and have an interest in astronomy. I have days off until September. :P

Stargate

jumpguy wrote: »

It's great to be in school and have an interest in astronomy. I have days off until September. :P

The life of a student eh? :D

hahah

Ricky91t

Saw the SS got some pics too,Nothing great though

I'll throw em' up for those that missed it just so you can see a white line going across the sky :pac:

Calibos

maxim wrote: »

Just seen the shuttle travelling across the sky - luckily a clear spot here on Cork-Kerry border. Amazing sight, unfortunately missed the viewings last night, but made sure tonight! Worthwhile taking the trouble, will have to check for the next sightings now!

Didn't get to see tonights flyover due to clouds and I am sure it was still an amazing sight but believe me, if you thought tonights event was amazing you would have been blown away by last nights. What made last nights so special was seeing the Shuttle so soon after launch when it was still climbing into orbit. In other words 100 miles up instead of 400 like the International Space station. And so soon after it had jettisoned the main orange fuel tank. As a result of being so much closer to us, it flew over like a bat outta hell, with a brightness that took most of us by surprise and with the fuel tank so close to the shuttle with the orange colour of the fuel tank as plain as day.

Its not the first time the shuttle was visible over Ireland and it wont be the last even though there are only 7 or 8 more missions before the shuttle retires. The thing that made this flyover so unique for us here in Ireland is that with the exception of a similar event visible over Ireland in '08, the Shuttles launch trajectory has never taken it over Ireland so soon after launch or if it did, never at the right time for us in terms of daylight/dusk/earths shadow etc in all bar one of the previous 126 shuttle missions. We'd only get to see it once it had attained orbit hundreds of miles further up like you saw it last night where it moves a lot slower from our perspective and is a lot dimmer.

So, you did miss out on something special last night. However! The guy who originally posted the information on IFAS forums where I heard about this has just said that he thinks next months STS128 shuttle mission might also be visible just like last nights. Its just a fluke that for the second time in the space of a month whereas before there was nothing so amazing for the previous 30 years bar '08, NASA's proposed launch date and time coincides with our Dusk.

ie. For all those that missed last nights spectacular. You may get a second chance!

Ricky91t

Large size: http://pix.ie/ricky91t/1102160/size/0
Theres one on the brighter part of the sky

And the other


Large image:http://pix.ie/ricky91t/1102159/size/0
(excuse abit of camera shake at the start,The rocket didn't go out of control

Stargate

Ricky91t

You still using the beer barrel as a tripod :D:D

only in Ireland lads , only in Ireland haha:P

Ricky91t

Stargate wrote: »

Ricky91t

You still using the beer barrel as a tripod :D:D

only in Ireland lads , only in Ireland haha:P

lol it's more sturdy than my tripod so does the job

tantalum

Saw the STS-127 over Westmeath tonight - just over a minute from roughly 30 W until 40 SSE thanks to a clear patch between the clouds.

Saw it and the ISS while in Raheny last night too even with a couple of street lights in the way. Hoping tomorrow night will be clear to see the two docked.

Stargate

Ricky91t wrote: »

lol it's more sturdy than my tripod

HaHa ricky91t

Only if you dont empty it

Those Barrels are heavy full , but not as much when you have the contents for breakfast LOL , hence dodgey wobbly pix :P:P:P

Stargate

Stargate

rickey

just saw nice pass of ISS here in Cork , bit cloudy but she looks as beautiful as ever

you staying up for the SS pass too

Dusty87

Hey guys im new to posting here so excuse the ignorance. Herself missed it again tonight due to 'pregnancy tiredness'. What are the times for tomorrow night does anyone know? Is it only visible from ireland?