Thursday, July 09, 2009

For the astronomy geek in you :)


There's some universal phenomenon going on right now that makes it possible to see the international space station flying over us this week and next. Even in broad daylight. I am kind of a sucker for astronomical phenomena like that, so here's a date/time list to show you when sightings from Chatham are possible. I have plans for tonight and am not sure that I can be outside at 10:21 p.m. to watch for it, but I am going to try. Tomorrow is supposed to be overcast, and I think this is one of those laws-of-diminishing-returns deals where it will get more difficult the longer you wait.

Those of you in other areas can follow this link to find dates and times for yourselves.

THE FOLLOWING ISS SIGHTINGS ARE POSSIBLE FROM WED JUL 08 TO THU JUL 23
SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE
DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

ISS Wed Jul 08/09:56 PM 5 51 10 above SW 12 above ENE
ISS Wed Jul 08/11:32 PM 5 23 11 above WNW 10 above NE
ISS Thu Jul 09/01:12 AM < 1 11 11 above NNE 10 above NNE
ISS Thu Jul 09/02:44 AM 4 21 11 above NNW 10 above ENE
ISS Thu Jul 09/04:19 AM 6 62 10 above WNW 10 above SE
ISS Thu Jul 09/10:21 PM 6 49 10 above WSW 10 above NE
ISS Fri Jul 10/00:00 AM 1 14 14 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Fri Jul 10/01:36 AM 1 13 13 above NNE 10 above NE
ISS Fri Jul 10/03:08 AM 2 40 10 above NW 40 above N
ISS Fri Jul 10/10:49 PM 2 22 22 above N 11 above NNE
ISS Sat Jul 11/00:25 AM 1 13 13 above NNE 10 above NNE
ISS Sat Jul 11/01:58 AM 1 19 11 above NNW 19 above N
ISS Sat Jul 11/09:35 PM 5 47 12 above WSW 12 above NE
ISS Sat Jul 11/11:13 PM 1 15 15 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Sun Jul 12/00:49 AM 1 15 15 above NNE 12 above NE
ISS Sun Jul 12/10:02 PM 2 22 22 above NNW 11 above NNE
ISS Sun Jul 12/11:38 PM 1 13 13 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Mon Jul 13/01:12 AM < 1 11 11 above NNW 11 above NNW
ISS Mon Jul 13/10:27 PM 2 15 15 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Tue Jul 14/00:02 AM 2 15 15 above N 11 above NE
ISS Tue Jul 14/01:36 AM < 1 10 10 above NW 10 above NW
ISS Tue Jul 14/10:51 PM 2 13 13 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Wed Jul 15/00:27 AM < 1 21 20 above N 21 above N
ISS Wed Jul 15/09:40 PM 2 15 15 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Wed Jul 15/11:16 PM 2 15 15 above N 10 above NE
ISS Thu Jul 16/00:49 AM < 1 16 10 above NW 16 above NW
ISS Thu Jul 16/10:05 PM 2 13 13 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Thu Jul 16/11:40 PM 1 23 20 above N 23 above NNE
ISS Fri Jul 17/10:29 PM 2 15 15 above N 10 above NE
ISS Sat Jul 18/00:04 AM < 1 29 19 above NW 29 above NNW
ISS Sat Jul 18/10:54 PM 2 24 20 above N 18 above ENE
ISS Sun Jul 19/00:27 AM < 1 12 10 above WNW 12 above WNW
ISS Sun Jul 19/09:42 PM 3 16 14 above N 10 above NE
ISS Sun Jul 19/11:18 PM 1 51 29 above NNW 51 above NNE
ISS Mon Jul 20/10:07 PM 3 24 21 above N 10 above E
ISS Mon Jul 20/11:41 PM 1 23 10 above WNW 23 above WNW
ISS Tue Jul 21/10:31 PM 2 54 30 above NNW 29 above E
ISS Wed Jul 22/10:55 PM 2 45 15 above WNW 45 above SW

(I got this shot this morning before I headed out for my run... the moon was still high in the sky.)

6 comments:

megan said...

You really are a nerd huh? Ithought you covered up that engineering thing pretty well until now ;)

Carrie said...

Hooray! I made it home right in time to see it fly over. No need to stay up til midnight for the next sighting.

Dawn said...

I tried, found the info for my area, what the heck am I looking for exactly????? Just a glowing thing??? LOL!

Carrie said...

Pretty much. A bright glowing blob, moving fairly quickly, no blinking. OK, so maybe it doesn't look all that spectacular. But knowing what it is is kind of cool. :)

The Robiltons said...

I saw it - very cool! It's fairly bright and it moves pretty quickly across the sky. You definitely know it when you see it. We're going to look again tomorrow.

Carrie said...

There were only light clouds so I saw it again tonight. Less spectacular than last night - didn't pass directly over us this time, and wasn't as bright. But the timing is uncanny - it amazes me that they can pin it to the exact minute!