A cold front slipped in early this morning, bringing with it pristine air. Went out around 1800 local to my two nearby NGS monuments; set up on one and did a full set on the sun. Plan was to do two, but it slipped behind some trees, so spun nearly 180 and found Jupiter in full opposition. It fit perfectly between the "double" reticle hairs, so did a full set on it. Then did Arcturus and wrapped up the evening with a full set on Polaris. Don't even care how the numbers come out (stay tuned); what a great way to enjoy a beautiful evening. God is good!:-)
With all the astrometry you are doing, I expect your middle name to be Flamsteed
Moe Shetty, post: 374986, member: 138 wrote: With all the astrometry you are doing, I expect your middle name to be Flamsteed
Just a phase I'm going through. But I'll take it as a complement.:-D Flamsteed was remarkable. Been to his private observatory "workshop" at Greenwich.
Pretty amazing what those guys did with what they had in their day.
Spent several evenings this past weekend on the dock at the lake watching those same stars while waiting for the ISS to arc across the night sky. Good stuff.
There could have been a few cold Sam Adams Summer Ale involved as well. :beer::-)
my bride and i got out to look at ISS saturday night. not much moon, min haze, overhead trajectory. six minutes across the horizon seems to match the pace of an airliner at cruise speed and altitude
Moe Shetty, post: 375004, member: 138 wrote: my bride and i got out to look at ISS saturday night. not much moon, min haze, overhead trajectory. six minutes across the horizon seems to match the pace of an airliner at cruise speed and altitude
Is there an ephemeris for that thing? That'd be a one of a kind astro shot.:stakeout:
there might be, but i don't know how precise it is. the possible down side ( i think it is a down side)to it is ISS takes a polar trajectory . maybe that is advantageous, got to think about that some more. anyone else? fast mover in LEO and polar orbit. good for astro or bad? definitely difficult
God is good.
Moe Shetty, post: 375045, member: 138 wrote: there might be, but i don't know how precise it is. the possible down side ( i think it is a down side)to it is ISS takes a polar trajectory . maybe that is advantageous, got to think about that some more. anyone else? fast mover in LEO and polar orbit. good for astro or bad? definitely difficult
There are a lot of iss spotting apps. And iridium flare spotting too.
http://www.heavens-above.com/&apos ;">Heavens Above is the app that I have been using for many years to spot space stuff/junk as it traverses the night sky.
I use Sky Guide. It even gives me alerts when an iridium flare is about to happen, or when the ISS is about to pass overhead.