Is it a (glow in the dark) bird, is it a plane? No! It's the ISS!

[ashenlight]

I just saw the ISS for the first time! There I was, sat on the patio, watching and waiting... I hadn't let myself get too excited because in my experience, when I do get excited about anything astronomy related, it clouds over...

Looked up at 19:34... one minute later there it is! a very sharp point of light gliding smoothly across the sky, passed under Orion and headed towards Leo. I watched it through the binos for a while and as it sped off into the distance it changed from a bright white to a dull orange colour.

Thanks to Mark for the heads up too, I would have forgotten to go out otherwise!

Amanda

[RichieJarvis]

Its a great sight when it comes over...

I love looking at it - its amazing to think there are people up there in it!

[Talitha]

:hello2:Glad you finally got to see it! Could you detect any sort of shape, or was it seen as a point of light? Watching a manned satellite drift across the sky never fails to bring tears to my eyes (yep, I'm one of those:rolleyes:).

[ashenlight]

I am one of those too Talitha, you are not alone Through the binos, it seemed to have some sort of 'shape', it most definitely wasn't just a point of light.

[DemonicOmelette]

Does anyone have any code to put into Stellarium to see when/where to expect the ISS? I've seen a couple satellites just while browsing round the sky with my scope... Always using my 32mm, and they more WAY too fast to be able to change toa higher magnification... hard enough to follow it with a EQ mount!

[Doc]

Use Heavens above full of info and normally always right.

Well done Amanda it's a great sight isn't it.

[ashenlight]

Have you tried http://www.heavens-above.com/ ? That's what I use

Ah, beaten to it by the Doc, hehe! Yea it's a great sight, i'll be looking out for it more often I think

Amanda

[RichieJarvis]

You don't really need to put it into your planetarium software - this thing moves fast!

You can't miss it, and heavens above is the place to find out where and when to look.

Cheers,

Richie

[jgs001]

Well done Amanda, it's an amazing sight to watch it whizz across the sky. I agree with you, that in 10x50 there's a hint of shape about it, hard to tell behind the glare. It goes that dull orangey colour as it passes out of direct sunlight and into the light refracted by our atmosphere.

I normally try to watch each pass, and if I can image it too, but I missed it tonight.

[Jaffa007]

Is definatly a good feeling you get when you see it. And not just for the first time.

Saw the first pass myself, got some pics [not great] of it too, but L.P. was really bad round our way and had no chance of seeing the second pass.

[Psychobilly]

looked good throught he 25x100s tonight... although somehow my site info had changed in Heavens Above so the camera was setup way to low... so didnt get the almost full pass i was hoping for... and had to slew the camera a couple of times...

Peter....