Look Up Tonight

Video animation of the ISS overflight on Apr 6th at 8pm

liam — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 01:19:10 +0000

International Space Station – for your viewing pleasure.

liam — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 01:18:37 +0000

The International Space Station will be a special treat for all of us in Southern California over the next several days. We will have some truly spectacular “fly-overs” for some of the brightest passes theoretically possible (the brightness is determined by how the space station – and particularly their football-pitch sized solar panels – happen to be aligned with the sun).

For those of you who may be new to viewing it the ISS will be visible as one of the brightest (mostly the brightest) star-like object in the sky as it passes approx 200 miles overhead at over 17000 mph. The table below gives a lot of information about each visible pass including when and where to look. The lower the Mag number the brighter the ISS will be. So for example the pass on April 8th starting at approx 7:54pm will be one of the brighter ones.

Be sure to wave to the SIX astronauts who are calling the ISS home right now.

Unusual (for me) is to post the times when the ISS will be passing over just before sunrise. I’m likely going to be asleep – but hopefully those of you who are early birds might enjoy the opportunity.

Click on the date for each pass for further detail.

Date	Bright	Start			Highest point			End
Date	[Mag]	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
06 Apr	-2.4	19:59:31	10°	SSW	20:02:23	28°	SE	20:04:56	12°	ENE
07 Apr	-2.0	20:45:06	10°	WSW	20:48:14	41°	NW	20:50:40	15°	NNE
08 Apr	-3.3	19:54:17	10°	SW	19:57:34	86°	NW	20:00:51	10°	NE
09 Apr	-0.4	20:41:23	10°	WNW	20:43:41	18°	NNW	20:45:59	10°	NNE

All of the predictions above provided by Heavens-Above.com where you can get your own predictions for this and many other neat things to see in the sky above you.

Photos of the ISS flying by Pasadena on 02-26 and 02-27 2013

liam — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:11:36 +0000

These are some photos I took of the International Space Station as it passed overhead on February 26th and 27th 2013.

All photos 8 second exposure ISO 400, F5.6, mostly 50mm.

The International Space Station visible to Southern California in the evening for next few days

liam — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:28:15 +0000

For those of you who may be new to viewing it the ISS will be visible as one of the brightest (mostly the brightest) star-like object in the sky as it passes approx 200 miles overhead at over 17000 mph. The table below gives a lot of information about each visible pass including when and where to look. The lower the Mag number the brighter the ISS will be. So for example the pass on Wednesday Feb 27 starting at approx 6:22pm will be one of the brighter ones.

Be sure to wave to the SIX astronauts who are calling the ISS home right now.

Click on the date for each pass for further detail.

Date	Bright	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	[Mag]	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
26 Feb	-2.5	19:12:29	10°	WNW	19:15:44	49°	SW	19:16:47	34°	S	Visible
27 Feb	-3.3	18:21:46	10°	NW	18:25:07	76°	NE	18:28:27	10°	SE	Visible
28 Feb	-0.4	19:08:36	10°	W	19:10:46	16°	SW	19:12:55	10°	SSW	Visible
01 Mar	-1.4	18:17:13	10°	WNW	18:20:14	32°	SW	18:23:16	10°	SSE	Visible

All of the predictions above provided by Heavens-Above.com where you can get your own predictions for this and many other neat things to see in the sky above you.

The International Space Station – visible to Southern California in the evening for next few days

liam — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 07:51:01 +0000

The International Space Station will be a special treat for all of us in Southern California over the next several days. We will have some truly spectacular “fly-overs” for some of the brightest passes theoretically possible (the brightness is determined by how the station – and particularly their football-pitch sized solar panels – happen to be aligned with the sun).

For those of you who may be new to viewing it the ISS will be visible as one of the brightest (mostly the brightest) star-like object in the sky as it passes approx 200 miles overhead at over 17000 mph. The table below gives a lot of information about each visible pass including when and where to look. The lower the Mag number the brighter the ISS will be. So for example the pass on Saturday Jun 23 at approx 10:04pm will be one of the brighter ones. A nice Saturday night treat for us all!

Click on the date for each pass for further detail.

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
23 Jun	-3.1	22:04:33	10°	NW	22:07:39	61°	NNE	22:07:39	61°	NNE
24 Jun	-1.9	21:11:05	10°	NNW	21:13:56	28°	NE	21:15:56	16°	E
24 Jun	-0.6	22:47:44	10°	W	22:48:29	14°	W	22:48:29	14°	W
25 Jun	-2.8	21:53:28	10°	WNW	21:56:34	45°	SW	21:56:49	44°	SSW
26 Jun	-3.3	20:59:39	10°	NW	21:02:51	72°	NE	21:05:12	17°	SE
27 Jun	-1.2	21:43:01	10°	W	21:45:10	17°	SW	21:46:13	15°	SSW
28 Jun	-2.3	20:48:35	10°	WNW	20:51:36	38°	SW	20:54:36	10°	SSE
30 Jun	-0.7	20:38:16	10°	W	20:40:11	15°	SW	20:42:04	10°	SSW

All of the predictions above provided by Heavens-Above.com where you can get your own predictions for this and many other neat things to see in the sky above you.

View the crescent Moon, Venus, Jupiter and The Pleiades tonight in the West.

liam — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:21:04 +0000

After sunset we have another astronomical treat in store. The crescent Moon will be just to the left of Venus tonight and below those will be Jupiter – and as an extra special treat The Pleiades will be right above them all. The Pleiades is also known as “the Seven Sisters” – and it’s often confused with “the Little Dipper”. That’s because it does look a lot like people expect the little dipper would – but that is a much bigger object and hangs out in a completely different part of the sky (in the North).

That bright reddish star to the left of the Moon tonight? That’s Mars. No Kidding!

liam — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:08:30 +0000

Just look for the Moon tonight in the East shortly after sunset. That bright “reddish” star to the left (and slightly above) is actually the planet Mars. Enjoy!

Spectacular visible pass of the International Space Station tonight! (Mar 2)

liam — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:52:05 +0000

The International Space Station will be a special treat for all of us in Southern California Tonight (March 2nd 2012).

For those of you who may be new to viewing it the ISS will be visible as one of the brightest (mostly the brightest) star-like object in the sky as it passes approximately 200 miles overhead at over 17000 mph.

Tonight the Space Station will be about the brightest it can theoretically be as it rises in the North West at 6:20pm and heads nearly overhead in the North East by 6:23pm and then sets over in the South East by 6:25pm. So… it will be visible for a full 6 minutes or so.

Remember to wave to the 6 astronauts who are up there right now.

Click on the date for each pass for further detail on this visible pass of the ISS.

Date	Mag	Starts			Max. altitude			Ends
Date	Mag	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
2 Mar	-3.4	18:20:12	10	NW	18:23:18	65	NE	18:26:23	10	SE

All of the predictions above provided by Heavens-Above.com where you can get your own predictions for this and many other neat things to see in the sky above you.

The Moon, Venus and Jupiter all lined up tonight.

liam — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:31:46 +0000

Get out just after sunset tonight (Feb 23rd) to see a slim crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter all in a nice line. Tomorrow night the Moon will be right next to Venus… and then on Saturday night it will be right beside Jupiter. Nice!!

Wednesday’s Mercury-Moon Challenge – via SkyandTelescope.com

liam — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:55:41 +0000

If you have a clear view of the western horizon on Wednesday night at sunset you are in for a rare treat.

You may be able to observe the planet Mercury very close to the slim crescent moon.

See the following for details
Wednesday’s Mercury-Moon Challenge – SkyandTelescope.com.