Is it just the ISS we can see?

[MrsR]

Sorry this is probably really silly and mods please feel free to delete this but I know you can track where the ISS is going to be and can be seen with the naked eye with clear skies - although I have yet to see it myself, but is this the only oone we can see?

[virtualpilot45]

You can catch 'Iridium Flares' which are, I believe, when satellites momentarily reflect the intensity of the sun's light directly down onto us (up to mag -9.5!), though I haven't seen one myself.

[John]

Not a silly question at all !.

You can see quite a few satellites - often a number in one evening !. It's rather annoying if you are imaging of course.

The Heavens Above web site shows details of the brighter ones and when they pass overhead:

Heavens-Above Home Page

I even managed to catch sight of the tool bag that the shuttle astronauts let loose accidentally a while ago - it's position is tracked very accurately and if you know just where and when to look with binoculars you can see it !.

[virtualpilot45]

Not a silly question at all !.

You can see quite a few satellites - often a number in one evening !. It's rather annoying if you are imaging of course.

The Heavens Above web site shows details of the brighter ones and when they pass overhead:

Heavens-Above Home Page

I even managed to catch sight of the tool bag that the shuttle astronauts let loose accidentally a while ago - it's position is tracked very accurately and if you know just where and when to look with binoculars you can see it !.

Just how big is this tool bag??

[John]

Just how big is this tool bag??

It's described by NASA as a "backpack-sized bag". It was reported as around magnitude 4 when I spotted it.

Here is some info from another forum:

Space Station (IIS) - toolkit visible

It's possibly not visible now I guess

[ronin]

Think that one of the daily papers had a page of the satellites in low earth orbit about last Wednesday (Guardian ???).

If I recall they identified 12500 satellites surrounding the earth. They will be a few more.

heavens-above gives the ISS and Iridium ones and some others. But there lots that can be seen most evenings if clear. Easiest seen by looking up using eyes only then when something is seen getting a better (?) view with low power binoculars. Birding binoculars are good for this.

Not sure if the view is "better" as they are still a dot, no detail.

As they orbit the earth they do pass into and out of the earths shadow, so appear and disappear. Don't go crying UFO, just besacuse it disappears suddenly, it hasn't gone into warp drive.

[vulcan]

Last time I checked, for UK viewers, the ISS only appears above the horizon very briefly (2 to 5 minutes). It orbits the Earth 15.7 times a day but is bright enough, under the correct conditions, to be seen with the naked eye even in daytime (if you know where and when to look).

[MrsR]

Thanks so much for the info x

I guess as I am new to this I find the fact that we can see these so amazing - maybe the novelty will wear off but right now it all blows my mind and I get so excited about it.

[brantuk]

There's about 3000 satellites wizzing round the earth (last time I looked) - my missus is dead good at spotting them. Sometimes they go over in twos and threes. The ISS and Shuttle are the best if seen together (although the shuttle is soon to finish), plus iridium flares and all sorts.

The important thing is to be at a dark site to see a lot of stuff - street level light pollution really washes a lot of them out.

[Psychobilly]

This got me to head for Space-Track and update my TLE's ....

As of this morning they were tracking 80,480,285 objects...

Billy...

[MorningMajor]

I even managed to catch sight of the tool bag that the shuttle astronauts let loose accidentally a while ago - it's position is tracked very accurately and if you know just where and when to look with binoculars you can see it !.

Good grief! - No mention of that on the Heavens Above website, John!

[Patbloke]

Whoop... I saw a satellite earlier this evening tracking right across the face of the moon... I was testing out my new 32mm plossl admiring the sharpness and the large marble sized moon when a little light came into view and moved from left to right across the face of the moon. I looked again without the aid of my scope and couldn't see it at all - so I would eliminate the possibility of it being a plane.

I remember way back in 1977/78 ish when I went to Dawlish Warren with my girlfriends family and (apparently) saw 'Skylab' track across the sky! My girlfriends Dad was a keen amateur astronomer and knew exactly the time it came into and out of view... Astonishing!

Someone may correct me on the year but it was around that time I think

[virtualpilot45]

Whoop... I saw a satellite earlier this evening tracking right across the face of the moon... I was testing out my new 32mm plossl admiring the sharpness and the large marble sized moon when a little light came into view and moved from left to right across the face of the moon. I looked again without the aid of my scope and couldn't see it at all - so I would eliminate the possibility of it being a plane.

I remember way back in 1977/78 ish when I went to Dawlish Warren with my girlfriends family and (apparently) saw 'Skylab' track across the sky! My girlfriends Dad was a keen amateur astronomer and knew exactly the time it came into and out of view... Astonishing!

Someone may correct me on the year but it was around that time I think

Just been scouring Stellarium and I think I may have found your satellite. It's AMSAT-OSCAR 7 and it crossed the moon at 19:05:25 GMT. Does that sound right?

[jgs001]

Heavens above is a great site and covers a lot of satellites, but there's far more up there. With some very odd looking things too... a tumbling Iridium is quite a sight as it flashes at a regular period as it tracks across the sky. I've seen 5 at once one night. It's a bit more complicated than Heavens Above, but calsky.com covers far more of the things in orbit.

[Patbloke]

Oh wow... I think it was around that time. Well done I'm well impressed!

[Patbloke]

AMSAT - Satellite Detail - AMSAT-OSCAR 7

My new friend...

[lukebl]

.....maybe the novelty will wear off but right now it all blows my mind and I get so excited about it....

I'd like to point out that I've been into this astronomy lark for over 30 years, the novelty hasn't worn off, and it still blows my mind. Enjoy!

[mikeknowle]

I love watching out for the ISS etc. but I'm waiting to see the NanoSail that NASA put in Low Earth orbit the other week. It'll only be up there for a few months before it's orbit degrades & it burns up.

Cheers

Mike

[stolenfeather]

Thanks for the web page "Heaven's above" John, this will surely serve infuture stargazing moments!

Isabelle

[Skylook123]

There are more than 140 satellites that are naked eye visible at night, given favorable circumstances. Generally, visibility happens when the satellite is sunlit while the observer is in the dark - a terminator crossing.

The reason I have an Atlas EQ-G mount is that it is one that can track satellites when I feel the urge. It certainly isn't the easiest thing to do, but it is quite a real-time thrill to see the scope scoot across the sky and look into the eyepiece and see all the stars flying by, except one. And the ISS is a special thrill since my latitude allows occasional high elevation passes. Two missions ago I got two passes in one night, one just befor docking with what seemed to be a bright binary fliying over, then 90 minutes later, one BIG blob. The telescope then allows the detail.

The Iridium flares are kind of special to me. In the mid-1990s I was a test director on Iridium as we got ready for First Launch, then the first lauch occurred on May 5, 1997, in the Southwestern US known as Cinqo de Mayo, quite a holiday. As the booster disappeared from television, I got a text page from my wife letting me know that my second granddaughter Karina had just been born; her birth time matched the second stage cutoff of the booster, so we have our own secret; she chuckles when I call her SECO.

The flares are caused by reflection of the sun off the Main Mission Antennas. These are three large, flat antennas for cell phone communications that are about two meters by 3/4 meter. They are covered in Mylar, and intensely reflect the sunlight. If the observer is lucky enough to be on the reflection centerline, the reflection can be as bright as magnitude -8.5. It only lasts about 25 seconds, but it will astound the observer! I think the maximum path width is about 40 km.

[MrsR]

Wow thanks everyone. I am still trying got get my head around the Heavens above site - lots to learn as I am so new to this.

I was watching this morning but never saw it - really think I might have been looking in the wrong place though

I'd like to point out that I've been into this astronomy lark for over 30 years, the novelty hasn't worn off, and it still blows my mind. Enjoy!

Thanks x

[John]

Good grief! - No mention of that on the Heavens Above website, John!

I think it might only have been visible for a limited period of time. It was being reported on the HA site for a while - that's how I found out about it - it was realtively easy to spot once you knew that it would follow a certain distance behind the ISS - I used 8 x 40 binoculars I seem to recall. Just a tiny light moving against the stars but amazing when you consider what it was