Topic: ISS Passes and Lyrid Meteor Shower later

[DalPuri]

I've been outside watching the International Space Station flying overhead the past few nights.
You cant really miss it, its so bright.
It looks just like a plane but with no flashing lights. Equally as bright as Venus.
Even though the picture shows it passing over Devon, it should still be pretty high in the sky for most of the uk and not travelling low across the horizon like i initially thought 
    
Tonight should be a good one if the clouds stay away.

 Begin 21:02:57   End 21:08:39    Duration 5:42     Brightness -2.1 mag




Also, later on is the Lyrid Meteor Shower.
Because there is no moon it will be really easy to see lots of meteorites all emanating close to Vega.(as long as the clouds stay away  :
Look towards vega (N.E ish)
There should be anything from 20-60 each hour.
The best time being an hour before dawn, roughly 4am. but you should start seeing them after midnight.
Good luck 

Frank.

[George]

It looks just like a plane but with no flashing lights. Equally as bright as Venus.

Many thanks for your very interesting post. I'll be outside, looking up, if it stays clear.

[Terramamba]

Great post, thanks, I only saw one in the clear Somerset skies but also spotted Saturn in the South!

[DalPuri]

Well,, I saw the full pass of the ISS last night. 
 Went to a friends house and we tried to capture it with his telescope and a cheap ccd webcam (first attempt at ISS) while he manually tracked it.
Unfortunately, he hadnt done his checks on the scope before hand so nothing was lined up. 
But we will definitely try again as he managed to get an image on-screen albeit out of focus.

As usual, the clouds drew in just after 9pm and we had a thunderstorm here about midnight. 
I stayed up though, checking every hour and by 3am there was a break in the clouds.
I saw 11 meteorites in 40 mins before the clouds came back  ;D

That was the first time ever after i dont know how many years that i've managed to see any astronomical event that wasn't hampered by the weather.
 So i was pretty chuffed.  ;D

Hopefully it will be clear tonight and i can pop outside again slightly earlier (yawn) about midnight.

Here is the link i used for the ISS passes.

http://iss.astroviewer.net/observation.php

Dont do what i first did and just type your location in. You can write anything in the box,(e.g. Mickey Mouse) it makes no difference.
Zoom in on the map to your location and place the red cross there. Then type your location and apply.

Cheers, Frank. 

[DalPuri]

Great post, thanks, I only saw one in the clear Somerset skies but also spotted Saturn in the South!

Once you know where to look, its quite easy to find your way around. Especially when using the Plough as a guide.
I saw Saturn too the other day for the first time using some cheap 10x magnification binoculars and managed to see some shape to it 

[Stephen Lindsay]

OK so I'm in NE Scotland and the rain is pissing down but if it breaks later will I be able to see it?

[DalPuri]

OK so I'm in NE Scotland and the rain is pissing down but if it breaks later will I be able to see it?

Of course Stephen 
It should still be high in the sky. Not quite overhead, but more or less 
You will just have a shorter view than people who live in the south of the UK.

Thats if you mean the ISS. On the other hand, if you're referring to the meteor shower, then the whole of the northern hemisphere can see that pretty clearly.

Cheers, Frank. 

[Whandsy]

Very interesting that frank, im hoping for clear skies at 9.45 tonight for iss spotting

Cheers

W

[Stephen Lindsay]

cheers Dal

I am going to have a look though it is still a little cloudy!

Steve

[George]

Here is the link i used for the ISS passes.

http://iss.astroviewer.net/observation.php

The site  also links, under 'gadget', to a google tool showing the current position.

http://www.gmodules.com/ig/creator?synd=open&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.astroviewer.net%2Fgadgets%2Fiss%2Fiss-position.xml&lang=en