The Suffolk Sky » ISS

Cub Scout Camping, ISS Flyovers, and a new OTA

Hersey — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:58:36 +0000

This past weekend my son had a cub scout camping trip at Chippokes state park. I took my AT66 and my small equatorial mount along with us. We were able to watch the ISS flyover on Friday and Saturday night. Friday night was pretty neat since the fly over was at just after 8:00 AM, well before dark, and we were still able to see the bright reflection of the station as it crossed almost directly overhead.

The boys were able to view Saturn and Mars on Friday night. After a long day of camping stuff I did not set the scope up on Saturday night – we were all worn out and in the tents sleeping by just after 9. I’ll post some pictures from the camp out on my Facebook page later this week.

One thing I learned was that I rely to much on the GOTO scope, I need some more practice star hopping to locate objects. Planets are pretty easy, but it was taking me too long to locate any other objects (clusters and such) that the boys lost interest. I am going to need a bit of practice locating objects without the GOTO.

The mail man left me a present on Saturday. My C6 SCT OTA that I had bought from a member of Astromart Classifieds.

I’ll have some pictures of my set up with C6 and the AT66 in a few days.

ISS Pictures – July 7, 2009 – Just after 9:30 PM

Hersey — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:55:20 +0000

The ISS appeared just over the horizon in the southwest and passed nearly directly overhead as it made its way across the sky disappearing in the NE. It was VERY bright and easy to follow across the sky.

ISS - 50mm f/2.8 10 Second - ISO800

ISS - 50mm f/2.8 10 seconds ISO800

If you are in south eastern VA you have several chances to check it out over the next few days. Visit the Simple Satellite Tracker for times and locations.

ISS Flyovers the Next Few Days

Hersey — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:30:22 +0000

The International Space Station will be visible in the Suffolk sky several times over the next few days. Visit the Simple Satellite Tracker to get the times and where to look.

ISS Flyby

Hersey — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:25:15 +0000

Looks like the ISS will be visible over the Suffolk area on March 30, 31 and April 1, 2. Hoping for clear skies.

Check out SpaceWeather.com’s Simple Satellite Tracker to find out when it will be visible in your area.

Couple of ISS Pictures from Tonight

Hersey — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:37:33 +0000

The kids and I braved the cold to watch the ISS fly over tonight. It rose above the horizon in the south and made it’s way across the sky disappearing into Orion. Here are a couple of 20 second pictures I took that I think turned out pretty well.

The International Space Station Over Suffolk - 1/15/09 - 50mm 20 second exposure

ISS just before it disappeared at Orion - You can just see it to the right. 50mm 20 second exposure

Find out when you can see the ISS in your area using the Spaceweather.com Simple Satellite Tracker.

ISS Flyby Tonight

Hersey — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:59:23 +0000

The International Space Station will fly over head tonight, and the next couple nights. Check out the Simple Satellite Tracker from SpaceWeather.com for times and the direction to look. The kids and I will be out watching for it tonight – I hope the skys are clear.

ISS Visible Over Suffolk

Hersey — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:01:16 +0000

Last night Sandy and I had a great view of the International Space Station just before 6:00 PM. It appeared just over the horizon in the NW and traveled across the sky disappearing in the NE. It was very bright – brighter than Jupiter (which was still visible along with Venus in the west) and it was visible for a good 5-6 minutes.

Sandy was pretty excited since she saw it first.

The ISS will be visible in the Suffolk sky over the next few days. Check out the satellite flyby tracker here for times and locations. The now infamous ISS Tool Bag is also up there somewhere – the tracker will also give you the info on that as well.

ISS Flyby

Hersey — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:02:09 +0000

Just watched the ISS flyby from the roof of my office building in Greenbrier. Even with the light polution in the office park it was easy to pick up in the SW moving towards the ESE. It was just about as bright as Jupiter. Very cool. I meant to bring my binoculars to work this AM but forgot them. Oh well. I will have a look again tomorrow.

ISS Flying Over Suffolk – November 19-22, 2008

Hersey — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:49:26 +0000

According to the Simple Satellite Tracker at SpaceWeather.com the ISS should be visible in the Suffolk sky November 19-22 in the early evening. The ISS will be very bright so you should be able to pick it up, as long as the skys are clear, even if there is a bit of light pollution where you are.

Here is the Simple Satellite Tracker details for zip code 23434.