Night Sightings

[CathyN]

Nice,

[Maggie]

Great shots, Vic!  Mars and the Moon were fun last night.  Watching them dance across the skies all night was pleasant sight.

[Yellow Jacket]

Tonight almost full moon and Mars again, slightly out of focus but that makes Mars stand out better.

[Maggie]

Mars was very bright last night!

[Yellow Jacket]

Did you see the space station last night? I sat in a lawn chair hoping to see it but no luck. It was to be low on the NW horizon for me so must have been behind the trees. Thinking St. Loo would see it pretty well.

[Maggie]

I didn't see it last night but tonight it's going to be at 82 degrees  So should be ripe viewing, no clouds tonight.

[Maggie]

ISS and Mums. I followed the ISS tonight from Rapid City, SD to Savannah, GA.  When I took this picture it was approx over Nashville, TN

[Yellow Jacket]

Very cool picture Maggie. I also saw it very plainly. Watched it disappear as it passed into Earths shadow. Now you have me thinking about attempting a photo similar to yours. 

[Maggie]

Thanks, Vic.  It was super bright last night!

[Yellow Jacket]

Watching the weather news just now. They are saying that Mars is at it's brightest tonight. Very clear here.

[Maggie]

Super bright here

[Yellow Jacket]

Now I have a question for all you night sky watchers. Last night, watching for a string of satellites something quite interesting happened. I've had very little luck seeing them here but sky was pretty clear so had hopes. Finally, there is the first one, quite bright, watched it pass overhead for over a minute. Then nothing for a minute or two. Suddenly saw a bright light for less than a second, but was able to follow a faint light for some time. Over time, two more bright flashes then a faint light. All three flashes occurred in the same area. If not for the bright flash, I probably would have missed the faint moving light that followed. So, what was that flash? I'm wondering if I was seeing a reflection of the sun off the solar panels. It makes some sense to me. Has anyone else ever witnessed something similar?

[Maggie]

Is it something like this?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_flare

[Yellow Jacket]

I think that may be what I saw. From reading that article, some satellites still produce a flare. What I saw was less than one second but was about as bright as Jupiter is right now.   

[sailingskier]

Hi Vic,
Maggie's link tells the story about the Iridium flares.  As some satellites tumble they reflect the sunlight as you said.  https://www.heavens-above.com/ used to list the times and locations to see these flares, and with high accuracy too.  You could be outside expecting a flare and if someone was handy you could tell them to look "there" at the right moment and you would see a bright flare.  When it happened they would be looking at you in fear of someone with mystical powers.  It brings to mind the Bob Hope movie when he was about to be boiled by jungle natives and he told them if they did try to boil him he would removes the sun from the sky.  It was convenient he knew a solar eclipse was predicted.  They backed off and he was adored by all at the end of the eclipse for returning the sun to them.  Think it was this movie he also demonstrated the magic of matches.  And told them to practice with the one he lit as he blew out.

Heavens-Above has lots of valuable timings of things to see in the sky.  The ISS fly overs and the Starlink satellites are just couple of examples.
A flare is a neat thing to catch sight of.  Congratulations on this recent one.  It is like a rainbow. The flare and rainbow you see are your own. The person next to you sees their own as each are dependent on your exact location.  The intensity you see and that of the person next to you are different, even if only very minutely so.  Aaaaa....location, location, location....

Mike

[Yellow Jacket]

Thanks Mike, I feel privileged to have seen it when I did. I had no idea that excised. Also I do have Heavens Above saved in favorites for several years but never think to look there for info. 

[Yellow Jacket]

Looked for the telescope last night but it was a no show. Too bad, I had several neighbors looking too. Tonight, just me and I watched it for a long time. First time I've seen it. It doesn't have much of a tilt to it's orbit so stays low on the southern horizon. 

[Yellow Jacket]

Will be looking for the Hubble again tonight. Clear skies are promised. If you can see Jupiter where you are you should see the telescope also as it will pass almost directly over Jupiter viewing from here in WNC.

[Yellow Jacket]

No luck with Hubble last night. Tonight somebody needs to get a photo of Saturn, Jupiter, Hubble and the moon all together, 7:30 PM. Did a quick check on the internet, Hubble is the second largest object currently in orbit, about the size of a large school bus.

[sailingskier]

Vic, anytime I thought to look for Hubble, it was flying somewhere other than over NS.  I'll have to pay more attention to where it is.  Pity you missed it last night.  As far as The planets and the moon ... won't any view possibility here tonight, Oct 21.  Hardly can see across our street right now.  Would have made a nice shot however.

Mike

[Yellow Jacket]

No luck with the Hubble tonight. Did see something that looked like some kind of satellite but not sure. Hubble would be pretty low to the south for you Mike, but if you can see Jupiter you might see Hubble, they are very close. 

[Maggie]

No luck last night with Hubble, it was way too cloudy.  We did see the ISS this morning for long 7 minute pass.  80 degrees and clear skies with the sun rising onto the ISS.

[redeye]

The following photograph is from Tuesday evening, October 20, using a cell phone camera.
Would have been a great time to have a more capable camera, but not meant to be.



We were on the Florida coast, looking out into the Gulf of Mexico.
Fairly sure these are, from upper left to lower right, Saturn, Jupiter,
not sure left and above center, and the Moon.

[sailingskier]

Nice shot redeye !

Here is my offering of Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon from last night, Oct 22 at about 8:15 ADT

Mike

[jdbrot]

Nice shots!

[sailingskier]

Sunday morning at 6:30 ADT the ISS passes our area at 82° with about a 6 minute duration.  It is supposed to be a cold morning at 0°C ... brrrr
But Hubble doesn't seem to come towards Atlantic Canada at all.  The ISS should pass your area Vic on Sunday morning  minutes before it reaches my area. But an hour earlier for you.

[Yellow Jacket]

I just can't crawl out of a nice warm bed before the sun comes up to put cloths on and go out in the cold night air to look for ISS. Just not an early riser. Suppose that comes from going to bed at 2 PM and getting up at 9PM for most of my working life. Very cloudy here last night.

[Maggie]

Great pictures, all!!

[Maggie]

A halo around the blue moon last night.

[Yellow Jacket]

Watched the ISS the last two nights. Looks like it should be visible over the mid-west tonight.