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Observing ISS from Sydney



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 20th 05, 12:59 PM
Roska Gozwild
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Default Observing ISS from Sydney

Hi

Is it possible to see the International Space Station from Sydney/Australia
with an 250 mm Dobsonian telescope of type as shown in the following link
(http://www.bintel.com.au/BT252.html) ?

Thanks



  #2  
Old August 20th 05, 01:18 PM
William R Thompson
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"Roska Gozwild" wrote:

Is it possible to see the International Space Station from
Sydney/Australia with an 250 mm Dobsonian telescope of type as shown in
the following link (http://www.bintel.com.au/BT252.html) ?


Well . . .

You can spot the ISS from Sydney with your naked eye; got to

http://www.heavens-above.com/

to get pass predictions for your location.

Spotting it through a Dob is another matter. You'd need to
know exactly where the station will be in the sky, point the
telescope at the precise location and look just as it zips
across your field of view. If all goes well you *might* get
a glimpse of the station's T-shape.

Forget about tracking the station with a Dob. You
would have to know which way the bird is moving and
wrestle with the telescope to move it, and keep the ISS
in the field of view while not jamming the eyepiece into
your eye. Congratulations if you can manage it.

I've managed to track a few satellites through a 15 cm,
f/8 Newtonian on an equatorial mount, but those birds
were all moving slowly at the apogee of eccentric orbits.
Even then I only saw a moving point of light.

--Bill Thompson


  #3  
Old August 20th 05, 11:15 PM
Skywise
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Default

"William R Thompson" wrote in news:BcFNe.7007
:

"Roska Gozwild" wrote:

Is it possible to see the International Space Station from
Sydney/Australia with an 250 mm Dobsonian telescope of type as shown in
the following link (http://www.bintel.com.au/BT252.html) ?


Well . . .

You can spot the ISS from Sydney with your naked eye; got to

http://www.heavens-above.com/

to get pass predictions for your location.

Spotting it through a Dob is another matter. You'd need to
know exactly where the station will be in the sky, point the
telescope at the precise location and look just as it zips
across your field of view. If all goes well you *might* get
a glimpse of the station's T-shape.

Forget about tracking the station with a Dob. You
would have to know which way the bird is moving and
wrestle with the telescope to move it, and keep the ISS
in the field of view while not jamming the eyepiece into
your eye. Congratulations if you can manage it.


I have a 6" Newt on an EQ mount, no motors. I'm also an aviation
enthusiast so I sometimes practice tracking by manually tracking
aircraft.

Just the other evening I was following a police helicopter while
it circled an area about a mile from me. Once I was on the target
I was able to stay with it for most of the time. I was viewing at
30x so at times the helicopter overfilled my FOV.

Admitedly it wasn't the steadiest view in the world.

It just takes practice.


I've managed to track a few satellites through a 15 cm,
f/8 Newtonian on an equatorial mount, but those birds
were all moving slowly at the apogee of eccentric orbits.
Even then I only saw a moving point of light.

--Bill Thompson



Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism

Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html

Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?
  #4  
Old August 20th 05, 11:43 PM
Jonathan Silverlight
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Default

In message , Skywise
writes
"William R Thompson" wrote in news:BcFNe.7007
:

"Roska Gozwild" wrote:

Is it possible to see the International Space Station from
Sydney/Australia with an 250 mm Dobsonian telescope of type as shown in
the following link (http://www.bintel.com.au/BT252.html) ?


Well . . .

You can spot the ISS from Sydney with your naked eye; got to

http://www.heavens-above.com/

to get pass predictions for your location.

Spotting it through a Dob is another matter. You'd need to
know exactly where the station will be in the sky, point the
telescope at the precise location and look just as it zips
across your field of view. If all goes well you *might* get
a glimpse of the station's T-shape.

Forget about tracking the station with a Dob. You
would have to know which way the bird is moving and
wrestle with the telescope to move it, and keep the ISS
in the field of view while not jamming the eyepiece into
your eye. Congratulations if you can manage it.


I have a 6" Newt on an EQ mount, no motors. I'm also an aviation
enthusiast so I sometimes practice tracking by manually tracking
aircraft.


I used to spend a lot of time looking at aircraft with my altazimuth
80mm refractor (easier to track) but I've never tried looking for ISS.
I should, because as you can see from this page you can not just see it
but image it!
http://www.djcash.demon.co.uk/astro/webcam/spacecraft.htm
Other people have done the same.
  #5  
Old August 21st 05, 01:01 AM
Skywise
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Posts: n/a
Default

Jonathan Silverlight wrote in
:

Snipola
I used to spend a lot of time looking at aircraft with my altazimuth
80mm refractor (easier to track) but I've never tried looking for ISS.
I should, because as you can see from this page you can not just see it
but image it!
http://www.djcash.demon.co.uk/astro/webcam/spacecraft.htm
Other people have done the same.


That's pretty impressive results for manual tracking. I think
I'll have to give that a try. I only get 40 secs though with
my digital camera, but that should be enough!

I'll have to wait a week for my next evening ISS pass. But,
that'll give me time to practice on some 'dots' first.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism

Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html

Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?
 




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