OT--Stuff in the Sky

[Broomstacker]

Some of you tractor fellers live out in the boonies, away from big city lights. There is a website that keeps track of things in the sky like satelites, comets, the Space Station, and stuff. It is:
www.heavens-above.com

Tonight we had a great view of the Space Station coming over, all lit up by the sun.

 

[farmerjohninbpa]

thanks for the site info. wife just got a telescope a few days ago, will be real helpful site for info, etc. thanks again,john

 

[Anonymous-0]

I watch the ISS (international space station) and Orbiter(space shuttle) quite often. Very exciting, for me anyway.

 

[Howard H.]

If you like watching the skies, you might want to download the latest version of Google Earth. It has a "sky mode" that maps out the night sky...

Really cool!

Out here on the High Plains with the dry air, sometimes at night its almost like you could reach up and grab a star!


Howard

 

[Bob Kerr]

I saw both of them one night while the shuttle was up there at the station. Now that was neat I tell ya!

 

[Midwest redneck]

You could really see the international space station from the ground? Doesnt seem possible being several thousand miles above the earth.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Yes, you can see the space station, shuttle, satelites, etc. They are about the same brightness as an average star. What you actually see is the sun reflecting off of them. For that reason the best viewing time is just as darkness falls. Same time as you begin to see the stars. I use spaceflight.nasa.gov to track the ISS and Shuttle sightings. Dave

 

[MLP]

Right now it is only about 212 miles high. You can check here.
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/
Human space flight

 

[David, Surrey UK]

The ISS is in what's known as low Earth orbit (LEO), just outside the atmosphere. A lot of "remote sensing" satellites are in similar orbits, because they're as close to the ground as possible without burning up, and they can therefore get good photos etc. The orbital period is about 90 minutes so they appear to move across the sky when seen from the ground.

Most communications satellites, like the ones used for satellite TV, are in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO). This is about 22,000 miles up, over the equator. This orbit is chosen because it has a period of 24 hours. As the Earth also turns once every 24 hours, in the same direction, the satellite stays above the same point on the Earth. From the ground it appears to be fixed in the sky. This is useful because it means you can use fixed antennae rather than tracking ones.

David