The most amazing space station pass

[BeerMe]

Out of our friends back garden 10 minutes ago. 

This was stunning, we could see the sails of the station clearly!  They weren't illuminated, but the rest of the station was.  It was amazing, the best sighting I've ever seen.

I'm awestruck ?

[Paz]

Nice report. I've only seen the iss once through a scope - with no time to focus and using a fast achromat it was just a fuzzy multi coloured oval blob!

[Stu]

It's amazing what you can see isn't it? Tough to follow, particularly when right overhead but if you pick it up early and get focussed the detail is very clear.

Nice one!

[bingevader]

I hope you waved!  

[Dave In Vermont]

I accidently saw the ISS through my old 12" Meade LX200. I wasn't expecting it - and it knocked me backwards just about out of my boots! It filled my eyepiece, though I don't recall what I had in the focuser at that time. I was much too busy trying to figure out what had just hapened!

It took me a while to figure out what I'd just seen.....Aliens? Aircraft? Theological-Conundrum?

The mind reeled.....

Dave

[Pete Presland]

I never tire of seeing it pass over, sounds like you will looking for it again!

[Erla]

I tried to show it to my father yesterday. Got it in my crosshairs on finder, managed to follow it, but my old man somehow managed to not be able to squeez through to the eyepiece (I was viewing from my balcony). By the time I decided to view it myself it was behind the building. Next time I won't be nice guy and will look at it myself first. 

[BeerMe]

Sorry, I should have pointed out...

This was without any visual aids at all.  Our friends back garden is West facing and the Sun was just beginning to rise.  I could see a bright blob out towards Glasgow Airport and initially thought plane.  Only took about 10 seconds for me to realise that it was way too bright.  As it came closer (it seemed to pass almost directly overhead but was probably closer to 65-70°) I could see the un-illuminated panels and as it passed due South, the solar panels were clearly visible as just 2 big dark areas, either side of a very bright blob.  The sky was perfectly clear and it just lit the whole thing majestically. 

I'm guessing that the position of the Sun and the angle from my POV that the solar panels were banked at, allowed me this wonderful view. 

[BeerMe]

On 30/07/2017 at 10:39, bingevader said:

I hope you waved!  

I just kind of pointed with a dumb, awestruck look on my face I think :-)

We were all very drunk at the time (been at a wedding the day and night before) and I'd just popped out for a smoke when I seen it.  Very fortuitous lol.

I don't even remember posting this thread, such was the level of my inebriated state!  But it was very real, I can assure you (and I'm sure a quick check will show it made a pass over the UK around 4:15am on Sunday morning...I hope ?)

[tooth_dr]

Last night I was outside and my wife just happened to come out to see Saturn through the scope.  I looked up when she was using the scope and thought 'Hey theres Vega' when I realised it was in fact the ISS.  We both looked up and I'm 99% we both saw the panels reflecting, but I guess that would be impossible with the naked eye.  But it sure as hell looked like it!

[Knight of Clear Skies]

1 hour ago, BeerMe said:

This was without any visual aids at all.  Our friends back garden is West facing and the Sun was just beginning to rise.  I could see a bright blob out towards Glasgow Airport and initially thought plane.  Only took about 10 seconds for me to realise that it was way too bright.  As it came closer (it seemed to pass almost directly overhead but was probably closer to 65-70°) I could see the un-illuminated panels and as it passed due South, the solar panels were clearly visible as just 2 big dark areas, either side of a very bright blob.

I'm skeptical of this claim I'm afraid. When directly overhead the apparent size of the ISS is just slightly more than Jupiter, so it's too small to make out any detail with the naked eye.

I've been caught out by this. The second time I saw a pass I thought it had an elongated shape but it turned out to be because I was looking through my glasses at an angle. When I looked straight at it, it became circular. It's very bright, so the eye is easily tricked.

[Stu]

17 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

I'm skeptical of this claim I'm afraid. When directly overhead the apparent size of the ISS is just slightly more than Jupiter, so it's too small to make out any detail with the naked eye.

I've been caught out by this. The second time I saw a pass I thought it had an elongated shape but it turned out to be because I was looking through my glasses at an angle. When I looked straight at it, it became circular. It's very bright, so the eye is easily tricked.

I would agree with this, even with x10 binoculars you don't really see any detail, you need probably x50 or so through a scope to separate the solar panels and see the shape.

[BeerMe]

28 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

I'm skeptical of this claim I'm afraid. When directly overhead the apparent size of the ISS is just slightly more than Jupiter, so it's too small to make out any detail with the naked eye.

I've been caught out by this. The second time I saw a pass I thought it had an elongated shape but it turned out to be because I was looking through my glasses at an angle. When I looked straight at it, it became circular. It's very bright, so the eye is easily tricked.

It didn't look like any time I have ever seen it before but I can assure you, drunk as I was, that I saw exactly what I described.  I think the panels were so visible because they weren't illuminated, so they stood out beside the bright blob in the middle that was the station itself.

I'm positive that the position of the Sun played a big part in how it appeared, as the panels facing the sun were facing out towards the sky whereas when you view it at night, the panels face us as they point towards the sun in the West, so all we see is bright glare from them.

I don't wear glasses either, so it wasn't glare or anything like that :-)

[Stu]

13 minutes ago, BeerMe said:

It didn't look like any time I have ever seen it before but I can assure you, drunk as I was, that I saw exactly what I described.  I think the panels were so visible because they weren't illuminated, so they stood out beside the bright blob in the middle that was the station itself.

I'm positive that the position of the Sun played a big part in how it appeared, as the panels facing the sun were facing out towards the sky whereas when you view it at night, the panels face us as they point towards the sun in the West, so all we see is bright glare from them.

I don't wear glasses either, so it wasn't glare or anything like that :-)

As has been said, it is just not large enough to be resolved with the naked eye regardless of the sun's position. When I've viewed it through the scope, the panels are illuminated enough to show clearly, yet they are not visible with the naked eye.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

10 minutes ago, BeerMe said:

It didn't look like any time I have ever seen it before but I can assure you, drunk as I was, that I saw exactly what I described.  I think the panels were so visible because they weren't illuminated, so they stood out beside the bright blob in the middle that was the station itself.

I'm sure you're describing what you experienced, but that doesn't necessarily mean your explanation is correct. Respectfully, extraordinary claims require exceptional evidence.

The angular resolution of the Human eye is normally quoted as a about 1 arcminute, although it's possible some people have sharper vision than this. The angular size of the ISS varies between 11 and 54 arcseconds from horizon to directly overhead, according to this thread. So it is just about plausible that someone might see it as more than a point source, in perfect conditions.

However, I notice you say it didn't pass directly overhead (very few ISS passes do), so your claim is unlikely. I think it's more likely to be an optical illusion caused by looking at an object in direct sunlight with a dark-adapted eye. If so, you're in good company, the eye is easily fooled at night. One that catches me out is satellites which appear to slalom across the sky.

A few drinks probably didn't help either.  I know an astronomer who can't really do visual work after one beer, as they find it's enough to affect their fine focus.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

57 minutes ago, Stu said:

I would agree with this, even with x10 binoculars you don't really see any detail, you need probably x50 or so through a scope to separate the solar panels and see the shape.

Always good to have an observation to back up the theory.

[BeerMe]

20 hours ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Always good to have an observation to back up the theory.

Even better to check the many resources to see if a flyby was due, would have saved myself a little embarrassment ?

Which now leaves me and my missus completely mystified as to what we saw, as I know for sure now it wasn't the ISS...

[Knight of Clear Skies]

10 minutes ago, BeerMe said:

Which now leaves me and my missus completely mystified as to what we saw, as I know for sure now it wasn't the ISS...

Could it have been the Mayak satellite perhaps? There were a few passes over the weekend. I also wonder if a rocket launch is a possibility.

[RayD]

Kim Jong Un may not be telling us everything? 

[bejay1957]

3 hours ago, BeerMe said:

Even better to check the many resources to see if a flyby was due, would have saved myself a little embarrassment ?

Which now leaves me and my missus completely mystified as to what we saw, as I know for sure now it wasn't the ISS...

Always worthwhile checking for your location on the likes of heavensabove; if I'm reading the report correctly this object was passing W>E so would be possible for the ISS, but there was no predicted pass for that date/time, and no obvious bright satellite for the date/time.  There is still much doubt over Mayak*, but unless something went very strange off the Soyuz launch vehicle, it should be on a roughly circumpolar orbit?

*If data is correct I may have seen Mayak on 25 July, but that was the last clear sky here, so haven't been able to verify anything since then  

[RayD]

I think NASA's stock answer for unexplained occurrences like this is weather balloon.

[Erla]

That's nothing. My father was telling everyone that he saw a genuine UFO in 1970's. The facts that he was with a group of people who saw what he saw and that KGB officers came to take his evidence made him adamant he saw it and gave a license to boast. Then in 1990's he saw a weather balloon  He was especially angry at KGB  

[bejay1957]

I know of people (no longer with us), who swore blind that they had watched what would now be recognized as satellites - but in the 1930s/40s

There are undoubtedly loads of military birds up there not on any of the tracker sites/apps, and I don't mean the 'secret' X-37 - so secret its mentioned all over the internet..

[Tim]

I recently got some nice footage of the ISS over several passes last week. I'm lucky that my mount can track the thing as it whizzes overhead. Working at 0.57 arcsec/pixel I can image things like poles and aerials(?) if they are illuminated.

What struck me this time over several viewing is that the angular size of the ISS varies enormously, even when the elevation is similar.

Unfortunately I can't yet share the images as they may be being used for a forthcoming publication, but I might post the videos up, will check with the editor.

 

[Tim]

Video being uploaded to youtube as I type, will be a while but here is the link:

https://youtu.be/UiviAl3fWJk

I have another to upload of the same pass after doing a meridian flip, and that ones does have an actual UFO in it to identify!! Will be looking for answers on a postcard.....