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Space Station/Shuttle Atlantis visable pass tonight! Southern California 6:40 PM
Heavens Above ^ | today

Posted on 02/16/2008 6:21:57 PM PST by Names Ash Housewares

http://www.heavens-above.com/main.aspx?lat=34.052&lng=-118.243&loc=Los+Angeles&alt=115&tz=PST


TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: astronomy; nasa; space; visible
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To: Bobkk47

I think I heard mariachi music.


21 posted on 02/16/2008 6:50:31 PM PST by ThomasThomas ( John McCain a true BLUE conservative)
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To: bajabaja

“Proud of my country.”

Indeed.

Words fail when I think of our astronauts and our nations reach for the stars.


22 posted on 02/16/2008 6:50:31 PM PST by Names Ash Housewares
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To: davandbar; Names Ash Housewares

It came 5 minutes late from the West, moving really fast. Fantastic sight! Wow!


23 posted on 02/16/2008 6:50:36 PM PST by melt (Someday, they'll wish their Jihad... Jihadn't.)
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To: davandbar

It’s reflecting the light from the sun, which is just below the horizon. That’s why you can generally only see the space station, satellites, etc. only within 1-1/2 hours after sunset or 1to 11/2 hours before sunrise.


24 posted on 02/16/2008 6:50:54 PM PST by Signalman
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To: davandbar

Not an astronomer here, but practically all illumination visible to our eyes is from the sun. Either the light hits it directly and bounces off it, or the light hitting the moon that bounces (reflects) off of it then hits the orbiting satellite. There may be a small (probably infintesimal) amount of illumination from stars, but it is our star/sun that accounts for nearly all the illumination.

It was great to see here in Baja California. Thanks again, original poster.


25 posted on 02/16/2008 6:50:58 PM PST by bajabaja
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To: Names Ash Housewares

Saw it! Thanks for the tip! West of the moon here in the Fresno area.


26 posted on 02/16/2008 6:51:07 PM PST by Drago
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To: Names Ash Housewares

Beautiful and bright here in Northern California. Right on schedule. Truly amazing stuff.


27 posted on 02/16/2008 6:51:24 PM PST by bubbacluck
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To: davandbar

THe space station reflects sunlight. It is well above the shadow if the earth, so even though we are in the evening darkening hours, it is well-lit.


28 posted on 02/16/2008 6:51:39 PM PST by Don W (Vote YOUR Honor, or it could become: Vote, your Honor.....)
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To: Drago

San Diego we had some clouds moving in,
but there were enough breaks in them to see them pass by the Moon and Mars.

It was I think the brightest I have ever seen the station, even with the shuttle docked.


29 posted on 02/16/2008 6:52:14 PM PST by Names Ash Housewares
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To: Names Ash Housewares

Saw it... thanks for the heads up... it went right between Orion’s shoulders.


30 posted on 02/16/2008 6:53:04 PM PST by So Cal Rocket
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To: Names Ash Housewares

I told my wife a woman was driving it and that’s why it kept going into the clouds.


31 posted on 02/16/2008 6:53:56 PM PST by cabojoe
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To: Names Ash Housewares

I saw it. There is a grand opening for a spanish market near by with skylight distracting the view.


32 posted on 02/16/2008 6:54:47 PM PST by ThomasThomas ( John McCain a true BLUE conservative)
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To: So Cal Rocket

Here it went through Orion’s belt.


33 posted on 02/16/2008 6:55:10 PM PST by Brian S. Fitzgerald ("We're going to drag that ship over the mountain.")
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To: Bobkk47

No, I didn’t hear it. When I went back out to my balcony, I realized it was a low sound coming from a building across the street. My daughter’s boyfriend said he could hear it and I assumed it was the shuttle, LOL. Sorry, duh. Not very knowledgable of the shuttle.


34 posted on 02/16/2008 6:56:20 PM PST by CaliGirl-R (I miss my Hunter "pings")
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To: Names Ash Housewares
Saw it here in VT exactly 3 hours earlier, although it was comfortably above the horizon.

Finally! Only scattered clouds for a change.

35 posted on 02/16/2008 6:57:36 PM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: Bobkk47

Plus I was excited and ran with my laptop outside when I saw this thread at 6:41pm. I wanted to let FR know ASAP if I saw anything. Duh, again. :)


36 posted on 02/16/2008 7:02:24 PM PST by CaliGirl-R (I miss my Hunter "pings")
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To: Names Ash Housewares
They have to get it in by Wednesday. The debris from Greyhound needs to be AFTER the landing.
37 posted on 02/16/2008 7:02:29 PM PST by eyedigress
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To: Names Ash Housewares
Thanks for the heads-up! It passed overhead at 6:43 for me and passed to the southeast, close to the Great Nebula of Orion.

If you go to heavens-above.com and punch in your location, you can find times and other stuff about future passes. This one was a bright one, at magnitude -2.2 for me, and there should be some even brighter ones in the near future, as bright as -2.5.

If you don't know what these magnitudes mean: the smaller the magnitude, the brighter. The sun is around -26, the full moon is around -12, and Venus at its brightest (not visible here now; it's a "morning star") is brighter than -4. The faintest stars visible to a good naked eye under ideal skies are around +6.

This skymap program puts this quarter moon at -11.4, Mars (that orange "star" west of the moon, or "right of the moon" for us in the mid-northern latitudes, at -0.1, and Sirius (that brightest whitish star in the southeast) around -1.4. In other words, the ISS was the brightest star-like thing in my sky (it clearly beat out some aircraft too).

38 posted on 02/16/2008 7:08:43 PM PST by Lonely Bull
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To: cabojoe
Hey remember seeing the satellites passing 20 yrs ago when I lived in Cali. (I think that is what they were, size of a big star traveling in at a slow speed in a direct path?)

Well the other night I was looking up at sky (here in the PNW/Oregon Coast) and saw a light the size of a big star moving along at a slow (not like a shooting star) pace heading SE (I think).

Do you think that could have been a satellite?

39 posted on 02/16/2008 7:17:20 PM PST by Global2010 (Election 2008 like playin Shoots and Ladders (ages 5 and up))
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To: Names Ash Housewares

Looking at your link, it looks like we can see the rogue spy satellite tomorrow night at about 6:31pm with a magnitude of 1.2? (69 deg. off horizon SW to NE pass?) From what I understand lower mag. means brighter? Thanks.

“USA-193” Spy Sat:
17 Feb 1.2 18:27:14 10 SSW 18:29:30 69 ESE 18:31:09 16 NE


40 posted on 02/16/2008 7:20:12 PM PST by Drago
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