Edsland
Active member
ISS Spotter is a good app if you like to look up and watch the space station when its in your area. Its so fast and bright all you need is clear skys.
Planet observations
Yes, great app. There is also an ISS detector satellite tracker. And many others. If you install anything that can keep track of what you are interested in, then additional space may be required. Lots of extra space. In addition, many satellites are planned to be launched in the next few years. Your phone will beep constantly.
Edsland
Active member
I live in Naperville which is 20 miles from Chicago the ISS is plenty bright to follow it with the naked eye.
- Moderator
- #55
Was gonna say, I’ve never had trouble finding ISS. That thing glows
Most of my star gazing was done around a bonfire with a cooler full of beer in my younger years. I stay so busy now I don’t really just sit out and look at the stars like I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I still appreciate a nice clear stary night.
Hmm, I think we all now mostly read the news that interests us. We just find a resource or several for ourselves and receive notifications on the phone. It's great to always be up to date. But this greatly changed the joy of some news. And with the advent of Starlink, the new 6g standard, and many thousands of other satellites, in addition to these, we will perceive the starry sky in a completely different way.
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- #58
I’m curious how visible they’re going to be to those of us with a lot of light pollution to deal with. Are we talking seeing a line of 15 satellites just zipping around in a line in the sky? Or barely visible at all?
About 20 years ago my wife and I took our 4 kids on a cross country excursion. She drove with her parents for 6 weeks from CT to AZ hitting parks along the way. I flew out and met them for 2 weeks in AZ and we hit Monument Park, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and the Black Hills. At no time prior to that had we ever spent time fully removed from the ambient light which covers the entire east coast. Sitting outside at campfires in these parts we were able to see 100 times more stars than normal. My daughter got into star gazing and I got her a pretty good telescope. We have enjoyed many star gazing nights.
Great story! Everyone needs to get away from light pollution more often. Unity with nature and gazing at the stars gives a good positive charge.
In fact, we cannot know how it will be visible in the sky. Until 2029, they promise to increase the number of satellites from 3000, which are now up to 51000. It seems a lot. On the other hand, satellites are getting smaller every year.
I know that they've begun attaching "sun visors" to the latest Starlink sats so they won't reflect the sun as much. The result will be less lights visibly zipping across the sky.
Watching the stars from the desert in Tucson vs. St. Louis is a totally different experience. It is incredible, especially with a higher quality telescope.
Buckeyegolfnut
Well-known member
I've seen fictional TV shows where people are hauling their telescopes out to view a meteor shower! HUH?! Telescoped are less than useless viewing a meteor shower!
On our last fishing trip to Canada, we had a beautiful night that was crystal clear and warm enough for us to lay out on the "big rock" near our cabin at night, just looking at the stars! It had to be really late, since, up there, there was still light on the horizon at 11PM! Someone said, "Hey! Look at that!" And here came a point of light in the sky that was moving pretty good. But it was not a meteor. It just kept a steady track across the sky and lasted probably less than a minute. This was a while ago, so it might not have been the ISS. It could have been MIR, or Skylab!
Yes. That's because the astronomers and astrophysicists caused a little bit of a stink. "Hey, Elon! What are you doing? We're trying to do research, and you're cluttering up the night sky with reflective stuff!" When Musk announced the project, it became a thing!
BTW, does anyone here watch "StarTalk"?
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Perhaps, in some relatively near future, we will have a micro rocket that is capable of launching microsatellites (which already exist) to the required orbital levels.
Of course, the rocket I gave as an example was created for testing purposes only. But just as requirements for all parameters have appeared in the automotive world, so in the space sector, requirements may appear that will be dictated by astronomers, eco-activists, etc.
And then we really will not be able to see such spectacular launches and will not be able to observe artificial space objects with the naked eye, at least in places without a large amount of light pollution.
- Thread starter
- #65
There is a lunar eclipse tonight. Should be visible for all of the US unless you have cloud cover.
cloud cover here
Clear right now, but by eclipse time supposed to have clouds. Here's to a glimpse!
Cloudy here as well
- Thread starter
- #71
Just coming into view here in Central Kansas, the lower left quadrant is already shaded over.
If anyone gets any good pictures post them up
If anyone gets any good pictures post them up
Seeing the same here now. Tried to capture a picture, but it isn't too clear.
I don’t know where to go here? So I won’t? 
- Thread starter
- #74
Not quite high enough yet, another 15-20 minutes and it will be clear of the trees and in full view.
- Thread starter
- #75
Walked down the block a bit
