International Space Station

Soldato
Joined
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Derby
I was just walking to the shop and it is a clear night here in Derby. As always I look to the stars to see whats going on and I saw a real bright one just below the moon. I am presuming this is the ISS. Correct me if I am wrong.

What I would like to know is there a telescope out there I can buy that will be good enough to make out the ISS with all its shapes and colours etc?

I know you can get ones that can fill the view finder witha good sharp image of Saturn etc which is millions of miles away but would this work for something closer?
 
I believe I can see the ISS from my window. It flickers, but is always extremely prominent in the sky.
 
I checked the Nasa website etc to see it current location and got totaly lost... got mixed up with my Azimuth and longitude etc. I have know idea what that is all about.:confused: :)
 
droolinggimp said:
I checked the Nasa website etc to see it current location and got totaly lost... got mixed up with my Azimuth and longitude etc. I have know idea what that is all about.:confused: :)

Can you give a link? I've done some astronomy.

I assume it'll be visible from the ground some of the time - you can see quite a few satellites from the ground when they're catching the sun. One thing though, is the ISS geostationary or not? I'm not sure, but it would have to be to always appear in the same place.
 
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Fusion said:
You were probably thinking of Venus, which can currently be seen below the moon.

Very bright if it is. Not saying your wrong but I would presume the ISS would be the brightest thing in the night sky due to it being the closest.:confused:
 
droolinggimp said:
Yes it is that why it low in our sky at the moment. I think.

If you look at the moon you should see a really bright looking star about 7 o`clock from the moon

But that's what i mean as it;s so close to earth it sgould be moving accros the sky reasonably fast.
 
droolinggimp said:
Yes it is that why it low in our sky at the moment. I think.

If you look at the moon you should see a really bright looking star about 7 o`clock from the moon

Yeah I can see a bright light right now at 7 oclock.
 
droolinggimp said:
Very bright if it is. Not saying your wrong but I would presume the ISS would be the brightest thing in the night sky due to it being the closest.:confused:

Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon.

Make yourself a sky chart:

http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Yoursky

Put in 53 degrees north and 1 degree east for Derby, and you'll see Venus's apparent proximity to the moon.
 
You know what, I just went to my local shop for some greasy fast food and saw the exact same bright star. It's not even a particularly clear night but it was very noticable. To the lower left of the moon, yes?
 
ISS,it move very quickly it is orbit not geostationary, i have the website somewhere that shows all satelites orbits. It is only visible for very short periods moves much quicker than anything else it is unmistakalbe and very very bright too, though this does alter as the ISS rotates during its orbit therefore as the sloar panels reflect it is much brighter and large looking by comparison. Sorry sounds like venus, anyone?
 
droolinggimp said:
Would it move THAT fast for us to actaully see it move within a few minutes.?

You can see satellites move - I'm surprised you've never noticed one tbh. They generally cross a moon's-width every couple of seconds, if that gives you an idea of the speed.

Sit out in the countryside at night for a while and you'll start noticing all sorts of stuff. :)
 
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