Fellow Chicago Astronomer ISS/Shuttle nerds....

Tuesday, the 8th of September - the ISS/Shuttle duo will make a great overhead pass in Chicago evening skies. This one is a very special flyover.


At 8:14:57 pm - the pair will appear in the SW sky at 10° - where it will steadily zoom very high overhead in the SE at 81° at 8:17:49 - at magnitude of -3.1 (Venus magnitude territory)...and decend back down in the ENE and dissapear at 16° at 8:20:20 pm. No Earth Shadow the swallow it up and at around four minutes of viewing time...a very rare event to witness.

There will be another minor pass about an hour later, but as it will only reach an altitude of 12° - it will be a challenge.

I am organizing a viewing party tomorrow, Tuesday the 8th of September for a group orgy of ISS/Shuttle awe and enjoyment. I plan in meeting at the South Lawn of the Adler Planetarium at 7:00 pm to set up photograph equipment, and will bring along a telescope as well for some Jupiter viewing afterwards. If, for some reason parking is restricted along the drive - I will relocate the satellite party to the Old Meigs Field parking lot in Northerly Island. You may reach me at me at my Astro phone to see where we are at if you are running late. I have discussed this flyover with many of you and the anticipation is great among all of us.

The weather looks like it will be good and Chicago Clear Sky clock expects it to be absolutely clear - and this will be a memorable night for astro space geeks. I hope you all can come and join me in enjoying the evening with friends.


See you tomorrow.

Joe

An incredible viewing was had by a small group of Chicago Astronomers and fans by the Adler Planetarium.

The day was iffy in terms of cloud cover and visibility, but as flyover time approached, things started to clear up and stars popped into view...although very humid, windy and misty.

But, on schedule the duo made their appearance in the SW gaining brightness with altitude. It was an eerie sight to see these two un-natural objects glide across the heavens - unblinking, very bright and steady.



The Chicago Astronomers and fans all were excited and followed the two orbiting objects...as I attempted to record the pass on camera. (I failed miserably here...as the camera's sensor has lost some of it's sensitivity and it was hard to track using video.) I should have stuck with still photos, as in 2007 the pics came out great as opposed to these - see the first pic of this thread.

Sigh....


I was forced in using only short exposures while I shot video...very disappointing.



But one could easily distinguish between the ISS and the Shuttle.

And here is the Video of the flyover:






After the flyover, as the duo sank behind the Adler Planetarium.... .....we took time out to observe Jupiter for a bit, using the modest kick-around 4.5" and John's 5" MAK. Winds shook the tubes, but I could kick up the mag using a 9mm quite easily with moderately clear views.





It was a fulfilling and enjoyable evening with a great ISS and Shuttle pass. I hope we get more great opportunities like this soon.