ISS Sighting?

Hi,

I've been stargazing tonight with naked eye and binoculars. I was
showing my son some stars when I saw a bright satellite rising from
approximately a south-westerly direction just before 20:40 BST and rise
through the summer triangle. As it did so it became extremely bright
and I assumed it was an iridium satellite but it wasn't like other
iridium flares that I have seen. It eventually dimmed a bit as it moved
away from the summer triangle. I checked on Starry Night Pro and it
seems that it was either the ISS or a Progress-M 53 satellite (they
were apparently following each other across the sky). Can anyone
confirm which I saw? It was many times brighter than Vega or Arcturus.
I didn't think that the ISS got that bright?

Thanks,

Andy.

Sorry... I meant to say 22:40 rather than 20:40 !

On 2 Sep 2005 13:55:25 -0700, wrote:

Sorry... I meant to say 22:40 rather than 20:40 !

Really? That hasn't happened yet.

On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 22:07:30 +0100, Steve Pearce
* wrote:

On 2 Sep 2005 13:55:25 -0700, wrote:

Sorry... I meant to say 22:40 rather than 20:40 !

Really? That hasn't happened yet.

BTW it was ISS (mag -0.8) according to Heavens Above. The Progess
vehicle is probably a resuppy capsule, quite small and quite dim.

I'll get there in the end ... it was 21:40 ! Not that many glasses of
wine tonight, honest ;-)

wrote:
I'll get there in the end ... it was 21:40 ! Not that many glasses of
wine tonight, honest ;-)


21:40 it was - I was out with my 80ED on a photo tripod and tracked the budder all
the way across ... Nice ! Cant wait to catch a Sun transit (16th Sept 16:55 ish here).
--
Best Regards,

David Harris

JRS: In article .com
, dated Fri, 2 Sep 2005 13:54:21, seen in news:uk.sci.astronomy,
posted :

I've been stargazing tonight with naked eye and binoculars. I was
showing my son some stars when I saw a bright satellite rising from
approximately a south-westerly direction just before 20:40 BST and rise
through the summer triangle.

BTW, for (artificial) satellites : if the position in the sky is to be
really meaningful then the observer's approximate position on the ground
is necessary.

Tomorrow, I may see a satellite nearly overhead, and it could (in fact,
will) be ISS; but if Hamish in Aberdeen sees something overhead, it
cannot be ISS, which from there can never be more than about half-way up
the southern sky.

--
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