ISS and Space Shuttle spotting

[MWISimmer]

According to this link:
Nasa
We will be able to see both ISS and Shuttle from London for a duration of 6 mins tonight. The skies should be clear, so I'm wondering what do all those degrees and elevation mean, and where should I be looking?
Hopefully light pollution won't be much of an issue...  ::)
Cheers.

[dcunning30]

Satelite/shuttle spotting is pretty cool when you consider what you're looking at.  Otherwise, you just see a "star" moving across the sky.

Consider the horizon is 0 degrees, and straight up is 90 degrees. Let's look at this example:

SATELLITE  LOCAL                 DURATION   MAX   APPROACH DEPARTURE
                                                             ELEV
                DATE/TIME              (MIN)      (DEG)  (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)
===============================================
SHUTTLE    Fri Aug 10/09:18 PM    6            87     10 above W 10 above E

So the approach is 10 degrees above west.  You're expecting to look due west at about 10 degrees from the horizon.  That's a low angle so you want to find a spot without obstructions like buildings and trees.  The departure is 10 degrees above east, so that means the shuttle will cross the whole sky from west to east and it'll take 10 minutes for it to travel.  Now, the max elevation means the shuttle will approach straight above at an angle of 87 degrees.  Recall 90 degrees is exactly straight up.  As I previously stated, look for a moving "star".  That's how you can spot any satelite.  The look like moving stars.  There was a whole group of people who spotted iridium satelite flare-ups a few years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_flare

[MWISimmer]

Cheers for that.. I suppose it was obvious really.. I'll be out there at 9.18pm looking, that's for sure.
CharlottesMum saw one going in the opposite direction the other night, quite cool really when you consider we live in one of the best (or worst, whichever way you look at it) lit cities in the world..

[Omag 2.0]

Also keep your eyes on this site:

www.spaceweather.com

They give all sorts of info on various special things happening "up there"

[MWISimmer]

Well I saw it, clear as you like.....

Very unspectacular, it looked like a plane without the strobes and beacons.

I'll be out again at 10.55pm to watch the next pass though  ;)  :)

[dcunning30]

[quote]Well I saw it, clear as you like.....

Very unspectacular, it looked like a plane without the strobes and beacons.

I'll be out again at 10.55pm to watch the next pass though

[Chris_F]

I got to see this particular shuttle take off.  Talk about an unexpected experience.  I was visiting the big mouse and was on a boat going from one place to another.  The boat pilot stopped the boat and directed our attention to starboard.  A minute later the thing rocketed up through the clouds and within twenty seconds was gone and in outer space.  VEEEERRRRRYYYYY cool.

[a1]

That's cool. 8-)


NASA says that by the time it is finished anyone could view it from anywhere at night.

[Rifleman]

Went out tonight at 10:03 and had a 3 min viewing of the Shuttle/ISS combo overhead.........Courtenay B.C. Canada

I get my info from "ISS Sightings" Google search......... 8-)

[expat]

Went out tonight at 10:03 and had a 3 min viewing of the Shuttle/ISS combo overhead.........Courtenay B.C. Canada

I get my info from "ISS Sightings" Google search......... 8-)

I saw it last Saturday night. The one thing that surprised me was that it did not seem to be that high up. Almost aircraft cruising altitude. Must have something to do with the size of it, being somewhat larger than the average star.

[beaky]

Went out tonight at 10:03 and had a 3 min viewing of the Shuttle/ISS combo overhead.........Courtenay B.C. Canada

I get my info from "ISS Sightings" Google search......... 8-)

I saw it last Saturday night. The one thing that surprised me was that it did not seem to be that high up. Almost aircraft cruising altitude. Must have something to do with the size of it, being somewhat larger than the average star.

Chances are the velocity is deceptive, too- not often one sees a man-made object moving that quickly, so it's easy to assume it's something much lower and slower.

[MWISimmer]

Chances are the velocity is deceptive, too- not often one sees a man-made object moving that quickly, so it's easy to assume it's something much lower and slower.

It's about 340 km high and travels around 17000mph  :o  :o

[Mictheslik]

I think I just saw it, a bright object moving across the sky quite quickly, with no flashing lights, so that rules out the aircraft.....

.mic

[Chris_F]

I saw the Mir/Space Shuttle combo back in "the day".  It was very cool.  Started as a green star moving across the sky and changed from blue green to blue to near white and back to green as it went by, I'm assuming from reflections off the solar panels.

[Boomtown Rat]

[quote]I got to see this particular shuttle take off.