How to see the Space Station pass overhead

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Space is cool. I've got a pretty good telescope. Did you see my moon pics? http://boards.cannabis.com/science/1...telescope.html

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thats sick bro. i want a telescope lol

If you get yourself an amateur radio license you wont just be able to see the ISS you will be able to talk to the astronauts on board.
With a good pair of binoculars or a telescope you can actually make out the shape of the space stations solar wings, I don't have a telescope I use 16X50 bins the main problem is that when the sky is clear enough above Scotland to see the ISS then its bloody freezing cold and it's hard to focus on a small object when you are shivering.
I know I should put the bins on a tripod but that would be too easy wouldn't it LOL.

Cheers

NCM

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Have you ever watched the International Space Station pass overhead? I've seen it several times. It looks like a star moving across the sky. Often it is very bright, almost as bright as Venus. If you have ever seen a satelite, the ISS is generally much brighter than most other satelites you can see. Usually you have to get out of the city to see a regular satelite, but the ISS is often visible from the city on a clear night.

When the Space Shuttle is visiting the Space Station, it usually spends a day or two to catch up to the space station, and it is sort of amazing to see both of them passing overhead, one bright star following another.

This website tells you when and where to look to see the Space Station, and other big, bright satelites like the Hubble Space Telescope: Welcome to Heavens-Above

This might look like a long explanation but it is really very easy to do. You tell the site where you are --- it tells you where to look.

1. I usually use the site anonymously and select the Select your location from our huge database option.
   
2. On the Select Country screen, select the country where you will watch for the satelite.
   
3. On the Select Town screen, enter the city or town where you will watch for the satelite.
   
4. If more than one match comes up in the Town Search Results screen, select the right one from the list.
   
5. The Main Menu screen appears and shows you some summary info about the observing site you have selected and provides links to all the satelites you can get predictions for.
6. If you want predictions for the International Space Station, select ISS.
7. If the Sapce Shuttle is up and you want predictions for it, select STS-###. (That's space transportation system and mission number)
8. If you want predictions for the Hubble Space Telescope, select HST.
9. There are several other satelites you can select as well.
10. The next screen shows the visible passes for the next ten days for the satelite you selected. I attached the screen I got when I selected the Space Station for my area.

Here's what the chart means:

I ran the predictions on the 8th, but you can see there are no visible passes until the 12th. Dang! This is because the angle of the orbit does not bring the station over my location at night at a time when it is still illuminated by the sun until then. It might still go directly overhead in the next few days, but it's either in the daytime, or late at night in the earth's shadow, when it cannot be seen.

The Mag column tells you how bright it is going to be. Small numbers are brighter. Negative numbers are brightest. The brightest pass on my chart is the Feb 16 pass with a mgnitude of -2.2

You have both the Start and End Times, so you can see how long the pass will last. Feb 16 is also a long pass, about 5 minutes.

You have both the Start and End Az (stands for azimuth, basically the direction), so you can see where it's going to start in the sky and where it is going to end. The Feb 16 pass, starts in the NW (North West) and ends in the SE (South East). Basically this pass starts at one side of the sky and ends at the opposite, so it goes almost directly overhead. That's why it is a long pass and why it is so bright.

The Max Altitude columns tell you how high in the sky it will get and when and where that will happen. Al stands for altitude and tells you the angle off the horizon --- 0 is on the horizon and 90 is straight overhead. The Feb 16 pass has a maximum altitude of 70 degrees, so it goes almost directly overhead.

So here's what I would do if I wanted to see the Feb 16 pass, which looks like a pretty good one for my location. (This is only for my location --- you need to run the chart for yourself to get accurate times an angles.) I'd make sure it was a clear night. Any haze will ruin it. It's possible to see it from my backyard, but if possible I'd go to a dark location with a broad view of the sky. And even better I'd bring a friend and a joint. The pass is starting at 18:39 (6:39 pm), so I'd want to be there early. There may still be twiligth then, but if it was dark, it would be good to let the eyes adjust to the darkness.

We'd smoke the joint and make idle chit chat for awhile. A few minutes before 6:39, I'd say, "Hey, have you ever seen the Space Station?"

They'd say, "What the hell are you talking about?"

I'd say, "The Space Station is coming up right over there at 6:39."

They'd say, "You're full of shit."

I'd start to look toward the north west scanning above the horizon for a moving "star." When it popped up, I'd say, "Wooooo-hoooo! There goes the freakin' Space Station!"

It's a fun trick.

Try it a few times before you decide to blow someone's mind just to be sure you know how it works. And make sure your watch is set for the exact time.

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THAT IS FUCKING RAD!!! AWESOME THANK YOU!:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Have you ever watched the International Space Station pass overhead? I've seen it several times. It looks like a star moving across the sky. Often it is very bright, almost as bright as Venus. If you have ever seen a satelite, the ISS is generally much brighter than most other satelites you can see. Usually you have to get out of the city to see a regular satelite, but the ISS is often visible from the city on a clear night.

When the Space Shuttle is visiting the Space Station, it usually spends a day or two to catch up to the space station, and it is sort of amazing to see both of them passing overhead, one bright star following another.

This website tells you when and where to look to see the Space Station, and other big, bright satelites like the Hubble Space Telescope: Welcome to Heavens-Above

This might look like a long explanation but it is really very easy to do. You tell the site where you are --- it tells you where to look.

1. I usually use the site anonymously and select the Select your location from our huge database option.
   
2. On the Select Country screen, select the country where you will watch for the satelite.
   
3. On the Select Town screen, enter the city or town where you will watch for the satelite.
   
4. If more than one match comes up in the Town Search Results screen, select the right one from the list.
   
5. The Main Menu screen appears and shows you some summary info about the observing site you have selected and provides links to all the satelites you can get predictions for.
6. If you want predictions for the International Space Station, select ISS.
7. If the Sapce Shuttle is up and you want predictions for it, select STS-###. (That's space transportation system and mission number)
8. If you want predictions for the Hubble Space Telescope, select HST.
9. There are several other satelites you can select as well.
10. The next screen shows the visible passes for the next ten days for the satelite you selected. I attached the screen I got when I selected the Space Station for my area.

Here's what the chart means:

I ran the predictions on the 8th, but you can see there are no visible passes until the 12th. Dang! This is because the angle of the orbit does not bring the station over my location at night at a time when it is still illuminated by the sun until then. It might still go directly overhead in the next few days, but it's either in the daytime, or late at night in the earth's shadow, when it cannot be seen.

The Mag column tells you how bright it is going to be. Small numbers are brighter. Negative numbers are brightest. The brightest pass on my chart is the Feb 16 pass with a mgnitude of -2.2

You have both the Start and End Times, so you can see how long the pass will last. Feb 16 is also a long pass, about 5 minutes.

You have both the Start and End Az (stands for azimuth, basically the direction), so you can see where it's going to start in the sky and where it is going to end. The Feb 16 pass, starts in the NW (North West) and ends in the SE (South East). Basically this pass starts at one side of the sky and ends at the opposite, so it goes almost directly overhead. That's why it is a long pass and why it is so bright.

The Max Altitude columns tell you how high in the sky it will get and when and where that will happen. Al stands for altitude and tells you the angle off the horizon --- 0 is on the horizon and 90 is straight overhead. The Feb 16 pass has a maximum altitude of 70 degrees, so it goes almost directly overhead.

So here's what I would do if I wanted to see the Feb 16 pass, which looks like a pretty good one for my location. (This is only for my location --- you need to run the chart for yourself to get accurate times an angles.) I'd make sure it was a clear night. Any haze will ruin it. It's possible to see it from my backyard, but if possible I'd go to a dark location with a broad view of the sky. And even better I'd bring a friend and a joint. The pass is starting at 18:39 (6:39 pm), so I'd want to be there early. There may still be twiligth then, but if it was dark, it would be good to let the eyes adjust to the darkness.

We'd smoke the joint and make idle chit chat for awhile. A few minutes before 6:39, I'd say, "Hey, have you ever seen the Space Station?"

They'd say, "What the hell are you talking about?"

I'd say, "The Space Station is coming up right over there at 6:39."

They'd say, "You're full of shit."

I'd start to look toward the north west scanning above the horizon for a moving "star." When it popped up, I'd say, "Wooooo-hoooo! There goes the freakin' Space Station!"

It's a fun trick.

Try it a few times before you decide to blow someone's mind just to be sure you know how it works. And make sure your watch is set for the exact time.

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Very kewl...but can you talk to them too??
ARRLWeb: Success Tips for Using the ISS Voice Repeater

:D

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Originally Posted by Funkmaster H.O.H.N.

That would be pretty cool to see while high, I'm gonna have to check it out.

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Originally Posted by beachguy in thongs

Cool! Thanks!!!

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Originally Posted by 8182KSKUSH

THAT IS FUCKING RAD!!! AWESOME THANK YOU!:thumbsup:

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If you try it, post back and let me know what you think. I always think it's pretty cool to see the space station, and I have amazed a few people when I pointed it out to them. Whenever I go camping, I print out the 10-day prediction ahead of time.

A few other notes I didn't mention:

Occaisionally they change the orbit of the station in order to avoid space junk or to re-boost the orbit back to it's specified altitude. So if you get a 10-day prediction and plan on watching a pass a few days away, it's a good idea to get the another prediction as near as possible to the day you plan to watch, because the orbit may have been altered in the meantime. Right now the Space Shuttle is at the station, and they often use the shuttle engines to boost the station, so the predictions may need to be updated frequently during the time the shuttle is there.

Also, the example I gave earlier was for what would be a great pass directly overhead, lasting about 5 minutes, and very bright. Often they will just pass over one side of the sky and not get as high as you would want, so be sure to use your local chart to determine how high, how long, and how bright it is going to be.

Have fun watching the station, and be sure to wave as it goes by!

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Originally Posted by Nightcrewman

If you get yourself an amateur radio license you wont just be able to see the ISS you will be able to talk to the astronauts on board.
With a good pair of binoculars or a telescope you can actually make out the shape of the space stations solar wings, I don't have a telescope I use 16X50 bins the main problem is that when the sky is clear enough above Scotland to see the ISS then its bloody freezing cold and it's hard to focus on a small object when you are shivering.
I know I should put the bins on a tripod but that would be too easy wouldn't it LOL.

Cheers

NCM

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Originally Posted by Mississippi Steve

Very kewl...but can you talk to them too??
ARRLWeb: Success Tips for Using the ISS Voice Repeater

:D

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Wow, that is very cool --- I've never heard of TALKING to the station. I know a guy with an amateur radio license and gear. I'll have to ask him about that.

I've got a pretty good pair of astronomy binoculars (9x63). I've looked at the station through them to boost the brightness and to see the star fields roll by in the background as the station crosses teh sky --- very nice. But I wasn't able to make out the shape of the station --- probably need a higher magnification to get that kind of detail, or maybe better eyes!

I've put the binos on a tripod before and it makes them MUCH easier to handle. You can see a lot more when they are steady. Even the 9x are hard to hold steady enough for good detail, but 16x would be nearly impossible, especially in shivering cold weather. The only problem is that they get very awkward at some angles. Mostly I use the binos handheld to scan the sky. I have a great patio lounge chair that makes it very comfortable lay back and look up, and it helps to keep the binos steady when you are in that comfortable position.

I also have a pretty decent telescope, but I think I would have a lot of trouble getting the station into the field of veiw, and tracking it would be very difficult. I've seen some great pictures of the station that amateurs hae taken through their telescopes, but I'm not sure how they do it.

Yeah it was nuts I watched and saw it!!
I only wish I had a telescope. I never knew about any of this. Thanks for the info!

Escellent!

Seeing that little light moving across the sky and knowing people are living and working there right now is kind of a blast, isn't it?

Yeah, I've watched it pass over a few times while smoking outside and stargazing with a friend of mine who's big into astronomy in the summer. My friend pointed it out and we were just lying out there watching it. I remember being like "what do you think it's really like living up there and what do you think they're doing right now?." He's also pointed out the hubble a few times.:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Escellent!

Seeing that little light moving across the sky and knowing people are living and working there right now is kind of a blast, isn't it?

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That's exactly what I thought. Kinda pictured them up there with all their space stuff...would be funny if one astronaut floated over another and farted on his head.
hahahhahhaha
its what i'd be doin.