incredible picture of the sun/iss/shuttle

[mikeysaling]

amazing once in a lifetime image

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... g-Sun.html

[TabbyAnn]

Thats amazing!

[Tim]

Cool image, but I like the the comment about 'blink and you'll miss it' - I could do the maths, but wouldn't it take the shuttle about 3 or 4 minutes to cross that distance?

[mikeysaling]

well i suppose the only way to appreciate how fast this thing travels (approx 4/5 miles per second) is to observe it (i did a post about it somewhere - i could do it again) - ill plug in your location and let you know the next visible pass. But if you can imagine a fast jet flying a mile high - how long would it take to traverse the sun. at 250 miles high and 4/5 MPS 1/2 a sec would be not far out. the iss going over is an amazing sight!

[mikeysaling]

tim - plugged in your coords (i think) does 53.8720 n 0.7760 w sound about right for your location? anyway - no iss for next ten days will send you a pm when its next visible . where you live you should have a great clear view.

[Tim]

Not bad - the entrance to our property is 53° 52' 22.7" (53.872972) N, 0° 46' 45.52" (0.779311) W

And yeah - we live next to some fields used by Rolawn to grow turf - about 150 acres of absolutely flat uninterrupted sky views (when it's dark and they can't see you with the 'scope and camera )

[mikeysaling]

forgot to mention - best seen on a warm night with a glass of chilled vino!

[Keith Hewitt]

Mikey,

Can you post on here the next time the ISS is going over England?
Can it be seen from anywhere in UK.
I didn't understand why it was necessary to be so precise with the co-ordinates?
Can you explain please
My Location: West 2deg .0612 - North 53deg.1743

Thanks,

Keith

[mikeysaling]

hi keith - i have plugged your coords into the iss data base - so will let you know when next visible pass - at moment none for uk in next 10 days (it calculates 10 days forward).

and yes most times it will be visible all over uk but will vary in brightness and elevation from location to location - bear in mind its only a couple of hundred miles high and travelling very fast . When it goes over it may be directly overhead (90 degrees) to an observer in say london but could well be only 30 degrees to an observer in yorkshire - even lower in scotland. The reason for so much accuracy is a lot of folk try to photograph it and accurate coords determine not only the EXACT time but the altitude in degrees and the azimuth (the direction its coming from and going to) - you don't want to miss by wasting time searching the sky for it! The iss data base also predicts the magnitude (brightness) which depends on the position of the sun at the observers location (it will of course be below the horizon most times).

here is a 10 day example for a mate of mine in NSW aus

iss.jpg

you will see from this that his best opportunity is on 1st june starting at 17.56.01 10dgrees altitude and coming from NNW at its max altitude it will be 52 degrees and -3.00 magnitude the pass will end 18.00.32 at 22 degrees ESE

hope that hasn't sent you to sleep


i'll do another post showing the ground track for this one

[mikeysaling]

here is the ground track for the above pass in nsw aus on 1st june

iss2.jpg

it will appear slightly brighter than venus to jack

if we did the same for nigel nobody i'm sure it would appear much higher in the sky at its best.

[mikeysaling]

did same for nigel


1 Jun -3.2 17:56:06 10 NW 17:59:03 71 SW 18:00:32 26 SE

nigel will see it brighter (quite a bit) and higher 71 degrees to the SW at max

[mikeysaling]

for ormond look down a few posts i spent a bit o time on this