We did that!

[Azure]

Yesterday I got my first telescope sighting of the ISS. Was absolutely amazing, the fact that I could make out the shape and all. But the best bit for me was when I pulled my eyes away from my scope, and saw the ISS as a brilliant point of light arcing across the night sky, from Orion in the West to Ursa Major in the East. It must've been around magnitude 1, and it looked magnificent. To think that we as a race built that and sent it up there, that there are actual people on this point of light as it whizzes high across the sky.

The whole thing only lasted around 3 minutes, but oh did it make me marvel at what we can do.

AZ

[richbyers]

yes it is one of the modern wonders of the world..

[Tim]

I always make a point of giving them a wave as they go by.

In the words of Buzz Lightyear, they are "falling with style""

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The ISS is a great sight isn't it. I saw the ISS passing over twice last night (mag -2 at its brightest, I guessed). Always a great sight. The 15x70 bins show a rectangular shape, but more detail was lost in glare. I did wave at Andre Kuipers, the current resident Dutchman up there

[Asur84]

I always try to get a look but living in Manchester (global home of cloud) its very rare i get to see it go by

[Viv]

In the words of Buzz Lightyear, they are "falling with style""

I really (like most) didn't appreciate how it worked, but a program a couple of weeks ago (sorry - just can't remember what one).

Explaining the falling orbit - awsome stuff.

[KJ Dalley]

Evening all. What time did it go over? I was about to post something asking if anyone saw what I did in the night sky. Must have been about 2045h positioned as Azure describes. Never, ever seen it before so if it was the ISS that would be amasing. Mrs D saw Saturn for the first time last night as well (yes her jaw did hit the ground and stunned her into silence for nearly 30 whole secs!) so for her it would be a double first. It was moving very fast but made no sound but seemed huge to me. The only comparable object for size and brightness was Venus, but it looked significantly bigger. COuld it have been the ISS or something else?

[Boyd_CygnusX1]

I saw it the other night as well but idn't realise what I sw until I saw this post.

[SFlowers]

I love watching the ISS go over, knowing there's people living up there floating around

[LongJohn54]

The ISS is an amazing sight but 25 years ago it was equally awesome to watch this little dot pass overhead. Mir - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John

[nckjsmitj]

Glad its not me up there, I get wobbly up a step ladder. I think the whole world's supply of valium would need to up there with me just to keep a lid on things. They are just so brave those astronauts.

[Azure]

Evening all. What time did it go over? I was about to post something asking if anyone saw what I did in the night sky. Must have been about 2045h positioned as Azure describes. Never, ever seen it before so if it was the ISS that would be amasing. Mrs D saw Saturn for the first time last night as well (yes her jaw did hit the ground and stunned her into silence for nearly 30 whole secs!) so for her it would be a double first. It was moving very fast but made no sound but seemed huge to me. The only comparable object for size and brightness was Venus, but it looked significantly bigger. COuld it have been the ISS or something else?

Haha I got a similar reaction when I showed my family Saturn!

But on topic, I'm very sure that was the ISS. I can't think of anything else that bright that was moving across the sky at that time. And your description fits perfectly (a very fast moving bright object with no sound).

I saw the ISS again a few nights ago, and was surprised at how much it's magnitude can change with each passover. It was much dimmer than my first sighting.

Anyway, if anyone wants to know when the next passover is, just google 'ISS pass' and go to the heavens above link, it will automatically use your location, although I prefer to use the app SkySafari as it's more visual.

AZ

[KJ Dalley]

Thanks Azure. It never occurred to me to look at Stellarium for it and sure enough searching for ISS showed its path and timing. I will try the heavens above link. All this time looking at the night sky and I never thought to try to search it out. Seems it came to me first. Look forward to seeing it again.

Clear skies!