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elgatoloco
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ISS - March 24th BCS update
This Monday the 22nd of March the International Space Station will be flying over The Baja. Hope you have clear skies and eyes.
It will be at a magnitude of -3.4 which makes it one of the brightest things in the sky. It will be travelling at 17,500 MPH and it will be 215 miles
high when it goes over your head. Today there a five humans working in the station. Two leave this Thursday aboard a Russsian vehicle and three more
are going up on April 4th on STS 131.
Definition of "magnitude"
This is a measure of the brightness of a celestial object. The lower the value, the brighter the object, so magnitude -4 is brighter than magnitude 0,
which is in turn brighter than magnitude +4. The scale is logarithmic, and a difference of 5 magnitudes means a brightness difference of exactly 100
times. A difference of one magnitude corresponds to a brightness difference of around 2.51 (the fifth root of 100).
The system was started by the ancient Greeks, who divided the stars into one of six magnitude groups with stars of the first magnitude being the first
ones to be visible after sunset. In modern times, the scale has been extended in both directions and more strictly defined.
Examples of magnitude values for well-known objects are;
Sun -26.7 (about 400 000 times brighter than full Moon!)
Full Moon -12.7
Brightest Iridium flares -8
Venus (at brightest) -4.4
International Space Station -2
Sirius (brightest star) -1.44
Limit of human eye +6 to +7
Limit of 10x50 binoculars +9
Pluto +14
Limit of Hubble Space Telescope +30
[Edited on 3-19-2010 by elgatoloco]
[Edited on 3-23-2010 by elgatoloco]
MAGA
marooons Are Governing America
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fandango
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thanks for the info.
sbwontoo
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bonanza bucko
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Maybe you can explain what time it will be in the night sky on 22 March...might be good if you didn't give us the time in a logarithmic message,
however.
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bkbend
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Times are in the flight path, but no TZ reference -- would guess zulu
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shari
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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do you think we will see it from the west coast even though the course is way over the gulf??? thanks for the heads up gato man.
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bkbend
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I poked around a little and the TZ is user specified, so times are based on whatever elgatoloco used. I made a similar run (I think?) using GMT and
it came out with the same path for Mar 23 02:30 GMT which would be early evening Mar 22 local time. Shari - "The highlighted circle is the region
where the satellite is at least 10° above your horizon. The size of the circle depends on the height of the satellite.
Solid part of orbit shows where the satellite is sunlit, and the dashed part where it is in the Earth's shadow and invisible. "
That was from the website, but I can't figure out why it's a circle and not a path along the orbit???
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shari
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thanks for that bkbend...shoulda figured out the circle bit! put it on my calendar but hope somebody reminds us that morning.
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toneart
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So, can anyone venture a guess or a specific regarding TZ in Baja Sur? If it passes through California during Daylight Savings time, it would be MST
in Mulege. To further complicate it, Baja Sur hasn't gone to Daylight Savings yet. Does that make the times on the graph accurate?
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elgatoloco
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The circle is centered over my house in San Diego and not just because I think the world revolves around me.  ISS will be visible over the horizon at my house at 7:31 PM. Sunset is at 7:00 PM on the 22nd. Civil twilight
coming at 7:25 PM. If you are anywhere in the circle you will see the station because it will be 215 miles up in the sky reflecting the sun. The view
will just be at a different angle and a slightly different duration. The nice thing about this pass is that it is almost 90 degress up which makes it
easier to see and a longer viewing.
Shari - do what I do. Print out the graphic and post it on your bulletin board at home and pass out copies to all the school kids then set the alarm
on your iPhone and then get all the neighbors over to your house with promises of cold beverages and show them something they may have never seen
before. The ISS I mean.    When you see Zac ask him about our trip to
PSR last spring, we saw virtually the exact same flight path. It was funny because I had checked it out prior to heading down then it had slipped my
mind. When I remembered I made a comment that we missed it only to look up right at the moment and see it pop over the horizon. Only regret was that
Pancho was late for dinner and missed it. Next time.
Toneart and everyone else - I HIGHLY recommend that you do what I do and go to:
http://www.heavens-above.com/
You can sign up and put in your own location and find out how to see all kinds of stuff. I like to wow my friends with the names of the different
sateliites as they pass overhead and the occasional Iridium flare sighting. You guys are lucky that you have the best viewing ops. We have a harder
time up here with all the manmade light getting in the way but the ISS is easy to see and it won't be forever. I fondly recall as a kid growing up
laying on the roof, where I slept for 15+ years, of my families house in Baja and falling asleep while watching satellites and shooting stars and
learning the constellations.
Have fun.
MAGA
marooons Are Governing America
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bkbend
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Toneart -- yes
I think your assumption is accurate.
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elgatoloco
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MAGA
marooons Are Governing America
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shari
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thanks gato...definately a good reason for a party...so we will all be outside around the BBQ...nancy playing her accordian...deminimis passing out
the cerveza...laurieboats doing the watusi...you know the drill....shot of tequilla for the first person to spot it!!!
[Edited on 3-22-2010 by shari]
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Bajahowodd
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So, if I'm making sense from this, millions of folks from the central California coast on down through much of Baja will have an opportunity.
Hopefully, there won't be any cloud cover. Reminds me also, that it look like everyone is soon going to have to rely on the Russians when dealing with
the ISS for quite some time to come.
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BajaBlanca
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thanks ElGatoLoco .... something to look forward to tonite !! As good an excuse as any for a partyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
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oladulce
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Dang, the sky has been crystal clear for days but today is solid thin high cloud cover. Hope it's clear enough to see. thanks for the tip Gato.
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Debra
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If anyone can get some pics. please post............it's not happening in Seattle!
Mean people suck!
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David K
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Debra... You have seen satellites overhead while in Baja, yes? Well... this is just a bit brighter... In about 10 minutes... but there are some clouds
above now!
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David K
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Okay, the clouds co-operated... went straight overhead... very bright... nice!
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Russ
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Cool !! I saw it this time.
Bahia Concepcion where life starts...given a chance!
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David K
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Too bad it takes me so much longer to get to Punta Chivato than the space station!
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