The Virginian-Pilot
©
CHESAPEAKE
Amateur astronomers say Hampton Roads residents will be able to view satellite USA 193 before it is blown to pieces by U.S. missiles – or it crashes to Earth.
“The satellite itself is viewable now,’’ said Ted Forte of Back Bay Amateur Astronomers in Virginia Beach. “There are a couple of times in the next couple of weeks we’ll be able to see it.’’
The satellite was expected to make “good passes’’ over the area at 6:16 p.m. Tuesday and 6:09 p.m. Wednesday , said Glendon Howell of the Norfolk Astronomical Society. The 5,000-pound satellite is supposed to be as bright as the brightest star, Howell said.
“You can see this with your naked eye,’’ Howell said. “Binoculars can help you distinguish it from an airplane or something like that.’’
The satellite failed almost immediately after its launch in December 2006. If it is not destroyed by missiles in the coming days, the satellite is expected to fall to Earth in early March.
President Bush ordered the satellite shot down because it could potentially fall to Earth with toxic fuel.
The Pentagon’s attempt to shoot down the satellite could occur over the Pacific Ocean, making it unlikely that locals will have a view of the military operation. Local residents, however, may be able to see “the brightness’’ from the many pieces of debris if the military hits the target, Howell said.
This week will be an opportune time. “There aren’t any other good passes until March 8 after these, and the satellite will most likely have been destroyed or re-entered by then,’’ Howell said.
John Hopkins, (757) 222-5221, john.hopkins@pilotonline.com
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Heaven's Above...
...is THE preeminent site for tracking and viewing various objects in space. Tonight's viewing was a bust as the start of the arc was right in the setting sun. Looking at the times and magnitudes of the next couple of nights', they are pretty much worthless for viewing in Hampton Roads.
Best to view the upcoming Iridium Flares, one of these is a magnitude -8!
Be an expert heavenly body tracker
Do a search doe "heavens above" and log in to heavens-above dot com. The online site prints out sky charts, heavenly body tracking charts that include elevation, azimuth, times, etc.
The site tracks numerous heavenly bodies including satellites, ISS, space shuttle, etc.
Be able to spurt out all kinds of technical orbital info such as:
Click on the date to get a star chart and other pass details.
Date Mag Starts Max. altitude Ends
Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
20 Feb 3.5 18:05:15 10 WSW 18:07:10 24 NW 18:09:06 10 NNE
21 Feb 4.2 17:57:47 10 W 17:59:18 16 NW 18:00:48 10 N
How can you possibly tell?
I live at the OV beach with lots of open sky to the north & I can't imagine how one would be able to distinguish it from all the other moving objects in the sky. Very often I see objects that look like planes except they appear orange-ish & don't move fast or at all. Will this move very fast? What are its distinguishing features?
I think I saw it last evening.
Don't confuse it with the blinking lights of airplanes. It is an unblinking bright object moving across the sky from southwest toward the northest (but more toward the northern sky). It moved rather quickly (faster than the blinking airplane lights)in a smooth path overhead. I hope it is what I saw.
Here's the lowdown....
...on where to look for USA193:
Feb 19 at 1812 it will become visible at azimuth 235 (SW) altitude 10 degrees, moving along a line that will take it to azimuth 313 and an altitude of 45 degrees (by 1814).
There must not be much out at that time because it only has a magnitude of 2.3 tonight, 3.4 tomorrow and 4.1 on Thursday, not the brightest of objects.
From what direction..
It would be helpful to know from what direction we might see it.. From the north to the south, low or high on the horizon etc...