[meteorite-list] Space Station Visible To Naked Eye In Days Ahead

[Dennis Miller]

A great website to check your location's ISS sightings, updated reguraly...
 
http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/
 
Dennis
 

> From: joshuatreemuseum at embarqmail.com
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 12:57:08 -0400
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Space Station Visible To Naked Eye In Days Ahead
> 
> 
> 
> Space station will be visible to naked eye in days ahead
> By MEG MIRSHAK
> Tribune Staff Writer
> 
> Michiana residents have a rare opportunity to see a spaceship in the sky 
> during the upcoming week.
> 
> The international space station, in orbit 250 miles above the Earth, will be 
> visible to those looking upward in the area.
> 
> "It will look like a very, very bright star, similar to what Venus looks 
> like in the morning," said Art Klinger, director of the Penn-Harris-Madison 
> School Corp. Planetarium in Mishawaka.
> 
> 
> The round, bright light will be visible for only about two to five minutes 
> each day until Sept. 10, Klinger said. Scientists believe the shining light 
> should be at optimal viewing here Tuesday when it passes directly overhead 
> with its brightest magnitude for five minutes, he said.
> 
> "It should be dazzling," Klinger said. "Anybody can see it. You just have to 
> step outside and look."
> 
> The space shuttle Discovery is currently docked on the space station, he 
> said.
> 
> Indiana native and Notre Dame alumnus Kevin A. Ford is piloting the mission 
> launched Aug. 28.
> 
> Ford, 49, is from Montpelier, Ind., north of Muncie.
> 
> He requested the shuttle crew's wake-up call from Houston be the Indiana 
> University fight song Tuesday morning, in honor of his late brother, IU 
> alumnus and former state Sen. David Ford.
> 
> "Good morning, Houston," Kevin Ford said from aboard Discovery after hearing 
> the song. "Thank you for the wake-up music. That song reminds me of my 
> wonderful home state of Indiana ... also reminds me of my oldest brother, 
> David, who was the first one to ever strap me in to the cockpit of an 
> airplane."
> 
> Sunlight reflecting off the space station makes the orbiter visible with the 
> naked eye, but using binoculars allows one to more clearly discern the 
> shape, Klinger said.
> 
> "With a telescope, one might even be able to see the shuttle attached, " he 
> said.
> 
> Space station visibility depends on the Earth's rotation, and Michiana is 
> positioned for the space station to move directly overhead this week, 
> Klinger said. Other times it can be viewed low in the sky for a shorter 
> period of time, he said.
> 
> Staff writer Meg Mirshak:
> mmirshak at sbtinfo.com
> 
> Viewing the space station
> P-H-M Planetarium Director Art Klinger said the space station can be viewed 
> with the naked eye during clear weather this week. Look for a bright light 
> rising in the southwest.
> 
> -This morning from 5:56 to 6.
> 
> -Friday from 6:22 to 6:24 a.m.
> 
> -Saturday for less than a minute at 9:36 p.m.
> 
> -Sunday from 10 to 10:02 p.m.
> 
> -Monday from 8:50 to 8:55 p.m. and 10:25 to 10:27 p.m.
> 
> -Sept. 8 from 9:15 to 9:20 p.m.
> 
> -Sept. 9 from 9:40 to 9:44 p.m.
> 
> -Sept. 10 from 8:29 to 8:35 p.m. and from 10:05 to 10:08 p.m.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> What are the best times?
> The light should shine brightest on Sept. 8 and around 8:30 p.m. Sept. 10.
> 
> http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20090903/News01/909030351/1129/News
> 
> Don't blink or you might miss it!
> Phil Whitmer 
> 
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