Clear Sky Space Station

No telescope required tonight, thought it was a major planet at first glance, but was moving pretty fast. Checked on line and it was def the ISS. First time I've managed to see it, -3 can't miss it in a clear sky.

 

Hi Scooby,
very, very visible. You can't mistake when you see it. It moves slowly across the sky and is a pale lemon yellow colour.
When I get an email from NASA today, I' ll put it up on here for you to note the time tonight.
Sky has to be clear of cloud of course,
Jenny

 

Or just put your location into www.heavens-above.com and it will give you a list of Times and Dates when Space Station is visible ... and also Iridium Flares which, personally, I think are much more spectacular

 

Scooby,
you can get your own email alert from NASA by following this link:
http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

tonight's times are as follows:
Time: Thu Jun 06/11:32 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 87 degrees, Appears: WSW, Disappears: ENE,
Jenny

 

A nice early viewing tonight;
Time: Thu Aug 08 9:25 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 45 degrees, Appears: SW, Disappears: E
and another at 11.02pm,
Jenny

 

@Jenny namaste Have you seen any Iridium Flares yet? (If not = why not?!!!)

 

I can't understand the maps/charts on that site Kristen.
It's about as comprehensive as you and the GC gang talking about the effects of the Clouds upgrade,
Jenny

 

I like the spot the station site Jenny . Does it only give times about 2 weeks in front ? We are camping in Anglesey on the holiday weekend with the family. So I would be able to print the sighting times out next week ?

 

Kristen, iridium flares are amazing. I like to use calsky to find where and when they will appear and amaze friends, who have no idea what they saw or how I knew that would happen lol.

 

also there is a meteor shower at the minute. The perseids will be at there peak on the 12th. A lot going on up there at the minute and there will only be more as the year goes on.

 

http://www.heavens-above.com site will do that for you.
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSu....26357&lng=-4.42646&loc=Anglesey&alt=0&tz=UCT
(it shows 10 days I think, but there is a "Next" button)

Make sure you have the correct location set before you display anything. That link should be OK for Anglesey ... but you'll need to change it for elsewhere in the UK

 

I went outside to have a look last night but it was too cloudy to see anything.

How do I know where to look to see a meteor shower? It's a big sky up there!

 

ok so basically any clear night from now up until about the 16th (the 12 is the best night though). The short answer is look any where and you will see them. meteor showers all radiate from a point in the sky though. The radiant point of this one is just below Cassiopeia to the north east.

The Perseids are known for being a heavy shower, having a lot of bright meteors that some call fireballs. The best time to view them is after midnight, this year were expecting around 60 per hour.

here is a star diagram for anyone interested (turn the picture quarter turn anticlockwise and that will be the actual position of everything when looking northeast)



don't make the mistake of only looking in that small area of sky or you will miss most of them.

 

Brilliant! Thanks for that Allan....I'll keep my eyes peeled.

 

I've seen two meteors come down in the last three weeks, the second of which really flared as it came down, amazing!