The ISS (International Space Station) is about as long as a football field and carries a crew of six people. More about it can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html. It’s very big and visible in the sky at certain times when it passes overhead. To be visible, the sun has to be shining on it while the earth-bound observer is still in darkness. This usually happens before dawn, so this is a game for early risers. There is a website called Heavens Above that allows you to put in a location and it will tell you the date, how bright (Mag), where it becomes visible, how hoigh in sky it gets (Max Altitude), and where it disappears. On the website, I specified the location of Middletown, MD (you have to specify a location because what you can see in the sky depends on where you are). Here’s the link to Heavens Above for the location Middletown, MD: http://www.heavens-above.com/?lat=39.444&lng=-77.545&loc=Middletown&alt=169&tz=EST.
Under “Satellites”, you can click on “ISS” to get the table below. You’ll also see under “Satellites” there are links for “Iridium Flares”. The table has some links that explain what some of the things mean. “Mag” is an expression of brightness; the smaller the number in value, the brighter the object will appear to be. So over the next ten days, the brightest appearance of the ISS will be on 11/19 at 05:52:36. The links for “Az” and “altitude” give good visual diagrams that further explain Iridium flares. An Iridium flare is a bright flash in the sky caused by the sun reflecting off the mirror-like surface of an orbiting satellite (Iridium is the brand name of these particular mirror-like satellites). The flash is very localized. That is, a flash seen from a particular location on the earth may not be visible from a location 30 miles away
Anyway, I thought some if this stuff might make for interesting (and always changing) content for the blog, and it is kind of educational.
Have Fun!
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