Spotted the ISS and STS-121

Post by **acc** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 11:01 pm

Wow, had a most memorable sighting tonight. I was on the tiny island off Palawan Beach on Sentosa showing off the night sky to a couple of friends when I saw two bright dots following each other slowly across the sky. The brighter dot was leading the dimmer one and they both rival Jupiter in brightness. They pass near arturus and the tale of scorpious. Guessed that they must be the international space station being followed closely behind by the space shuttle which has just undocked a day before. We were all awed by the sight; somehow the tiny pinpoints of light look so stately and majestic. The whole sighting lasted about 2 minutes or so. Just checked out www.heavens-above.com and indeed confirmed that its the ISS and the space shuttle. Awesome!!!

Post by **weixing** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:18 am

Hi,

Wow, had a most memorable sighting tonight. I was on the tiny island off Palawan Beach on Sentosa showing off the night sky to a couple of friends when I saw two bright dots following each other slowly across the sky. The brighter dot was leading the dimmer one and they both rival Jupiter in brightness. They pass near arturus and the tale of scorpious. Guessed that they must be the international space station being followed closely behind by the space shuttle which has just undocked a day before. We were all awed by the sight; somehow the tiny pinpoints of light look so stately and majestic. The whole sighting lasted about 2 minutes or so. Just checked out www.heavens-above.com and indeed confirmed that its the ISS and the space shuttle. Awesome!!!

Wow!! Must be a nice to see the space shuttle and the ISS together before the space shuttle return to earth.

Anyway, my luck was not bad also...

Tonight at around 8pm, I was on my way for a short imaging session. While waiting for the "green man" on the traffic light to appear, I looked up to check the weather condition. I saw a "dot" "fly" across the sky very close to Jupiter from west to east direction... I was wondering which satellite was that (quite dim and no blinking light was observe, so I think must be a satillite). I just checked the heavens-above.com and I think the "dot" I just saw was the HST!!

Have a nice day.

Post by **Airconvent** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:31 am

wow cc, that is great! I don't think I've ever seen the ISS before at all.
Maybe when its finally completed,its brighness can rival Venus, then we would not miss it ? 8-)
But catching it with the space shuttle is really a bonus...how often can you have this alignment and within singapore skies and you're there to see it??
But the event would have been sweeter if you had your portaball with you...

Post by **acc** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:59 am

Airconvent wrote: But the event would have been sweeter if you had your portaball with you...

Precisely!!

Could have caught a glimpse of the bird shit on Discovery's wings...

Post by **weixing** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:20 am

Hi,

Precisely!! Could have caught a glimpse of the bird shit on Discovery's wings...

With that kind of speed "flying" across the sky, I think you'll have a hard time following them through the eyepiece... May be one guy tracking and one guy viewing.... just hope that the guy viewing won't develop nausea after the "rough ride" and vomit on your "curry pot".... hee hee hee

Anyway, just wonder how high the magnification required to see the shape of the ISS??

Have a nice day.

Post by **acc** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:38 am

Actually I had been secretly practicing my shou-lin satellite-tracking skills on aircraft and have been moderately successful. Tracking the slower-moving ISS shouldn't be an issue. So I really hope to catch a glimpse of the station through my scope one day

Canopus Lim · Post by **Canopus Lim** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:59 am

Mount a laser on your Portaball and you can track the ISS! haa.. evil hor. But don't have to worry, the laser won't paint the space station or the space shuttle as the beam would have diverted and broaden greatly at that kind of distance.