International Space Station - spot it right now

unkel

Look straight up, out of your window, out from your balcony or garden

That light, brighter than any star, right above you, must be the ISS

Or is it not?

Sparky

hard to tell but i have'nt seen such a bright light there before tbh

na dont think it is http://science.nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html

AARRRGH

Too many clouds!

Sparky

its either a bright star or a satellite, check the nasa web pages because they have java links of satellite positions, one just passed by us a while ago

http://science.nasa.gov/Realtime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html

Rb

That's a pretty cool site.
Bit too much clouds around atm to see anything properly tbh.

What happened your sig btw!?

EDIT: nevermind, it's working again

unkel

Sparky_S wrote:

na dont think it is

Thanks for the link, to me it confirms rather than denies. It still looks a bit east from here and according to your link it is 344 kilometers up

Karoma

I'm not sure which object you mean..is it visible briefly or all-night?

However...

http://www.astronomy.ie/iss.html :

"I.S.S. crosses the sky ach night FOR ONLY ONE OR TWO MINUTES and can be seen by anyone with ordinary eyesight as an EXTREMELY BRIGHT star-like object, high overhead. "It's an amazing sight" said David Moore, Editor of Astronomy Ireland's magazine "Astronomy & Space". The Station can be up to 100 times BRIGHTER than even the brightest stars in the sky, so it is a wonderful sight to the naked eye. ISS is also THE most expensive object every built by mankind."

Planets visible:
http://www.krysstal.com/sky.html

MrJoeSoap

As always in this country, the clouds ruin any view of the stars.

Bah humbug.

Sparky

if you notice the iss track, it passed ireland

@rb, sometimes firefox unclicks the show your sig box in the fast reply

unkel

Sparky_S wrote:

na dont think it is

Looks like you're right, Sparky

It is almost overhead now, so it does not tally with the position of the ISS in your link

It ain't a star and obviously it is not a geo-stationery satellite

Any one for another guess?

Karoma

Check with the boys (Sexist?Maybe. Accurate?Most likely. move on..) in Astronomy:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=267

Sparky

The military, or a meteor far far away, a alien craft or it could be a third party satellite taking night photos of ireland

Rb

Did you know there are over eight thousand artificial objects orbiting Earth? Over 2,500 are satellites, operative and inoperative.

I personally never knew that theres that amount of satellites up there.


Quote source = http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/rocket_sci/satellites/

MrJoeSoap

rb_ie wrote:

I personally never knew that theres that amount of satellites up there.


Quote source = http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/rocket_sci/satellites/

Thats incredible, cheers!

unkel

Karoma wrote:

Check with the boys

Posted over there. Let's see what they make of it

MrJoeSoap

Just as a matter of interest unkel, where abouts in Dublin are you? I'm in Clonsilla, D15, and its really cloudy.

Sparky

im in terenure anyways, clouds are flying to my left, im looking straight east.

Tbh id say its a weather satellite

DonkeyStyle \o/

Pff I can't see anything... you're all mad.

Rb

Sparky_S wrote:

im in terenure anyways, clouds are flying to my left, im looking straight east.

Tbh id say its a weather satellite

I'm just outside Rathgar and yeah, the clouds seem to be moving off in a northeast direction so the sky is starting to open up a bit.

If you are using JTrack, click on a satellite to get its name and google it, some interesting info on alot of them.

Yeah, it *could* be a weather satellite but then it *could* be one of the "Keyhole-Class" Satellities(as they call them in the spy trade). More here

EDIT: "COSMOS 1697 R/B" ill be passing from the east through to the west in a few mins if you're interested.

Sparky

i was convinced for a minute it was an iridium satellite, but it aint moving

Rb

Sparky_S wrote:

i was convinced for a minute it was an iridium satellite, but it aint moving

Might be a TV satellite, they're said to appear to not move.....I dunno

Sparky

may be off by a mile but by judging where astra is in relation to where the sky dish is pointing, there is a satellite called ieu and its a slow mover and its moving with us in a way but slower.

It could be it

Rb

JTrack shows nothings over Ireland right now

Off-Topic: Do you know if it's possible to replace the screen on a laptop?

The ISS is heading back over the Atlantic and should pass over in a few mins...if anyones interested.

Sparky

zoom out to the ring with all the tv satellites

screen on laptop: yeah it can be done, but by the manufactuer or some third party computer place and is costly, you'd have better luck with your question on the laptop forum

MrJoeSoap

Would a satellite like a TV satellite really be bright? Just curious...

Still cant see a thing with the clouds.

unkel

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Just as a matter of interest unkel, where abouts in Dublin are you? I'm in Clonsilla, D15, and its really cloudy.

In Lucan, only a few miles from you as the crow flies. Sky was 90% clear when I posted last night

Someone here suggested it was Mars

CrowdedHouse

It's Mars

http://www.astronomy.ie/marswatchNov05.html

dimerocks

objects the "escape", sounds interesting.

Mossy Monk

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Would a satellite like a TV satellite really be bright? Just curious...

Still cant see a thing with the clouds.

not sure if i have ever seen one but i have heard people say they have

Sparky

Mossy Monk wrote:

not sure if i have ever seen one but i have heard people say they have

ive seen the astra lot, but i needed a telescope, and i was in wexford at the time.

unkel

For sure it was Mars:

[Article] BBC

Mars will continue to be the brightest object in the sky for the next month

Mars will then rise in the east at sunset, reaching its highest position in the sky an hour after midnight

That's exactly what I observed last night

slipss

I'm pretty sure thats Venus. Its always visible this time of year right up to the end of december