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International Space Station Sightings Category


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The international Space Station, including its solar panels, is about the size of a soccer field. When the sun reflects off it, it appears as a bright moving star in the evening sky, and takes about 6 minutes to move from horizon to horizon. If you were to hang a string from the ISS to the Earth, the string would be traveling along the Earths surface at 293 miles per MINUTE or 472 km per MINUTE.

You can find out when the ISS will be passing over your area by going to http://www.heavens-above.com/ and then clicking on "Change your observing location".

Enter your town/location and hit submit at the bottom of the page.

On the main page, you will see your location in the upper right corner.

On the left side of the page you will see "Satellites" and "10-day predictions for satellites of special interest" Click on "ISS"

You will see a list of dates and times that the ISS will visibly pass over you.

In the middle of the chart at the top you see "Highest Point" with "Time", "Alt","Az" underneath. The "Alt" or Altitude column shows the angle above the horizon, or how high to look as the ISS will be passing and the "Az" or Azimuth tells you which direction to look.

The "Alt" can be anywhere from 10 to 90. 10 is just above the horizon. Anything below 10 is generally blocked by the Earths atmosphere. 90 is directly overhead.

1.For creating a Waymark, the "Highest Point" "Alt" must be 45 or greater.

Under "Highest Point" "Time" is the time when the ISS reaches the highest point.

2. For creating a Waymark, your partners "Highest Point" "Time" must be at least 1 minute before or after yours.

If you look at the "Az" in the "Start" and "End" columns, you will get a rough idea of the direction the ISS pass, whether it's from NW to SE or SW to NE.

Now click on any pass with the "Highest Point" "Alt" of 45 or greater.

3. The information on the line that you click is everything you will need for you and your partners Waymark. You and your partner must share the information

A star Chart will appear with a line across it. In each corner, near the circle is directions, NE, NW, SE, SW. Hold the star chart over your head and turn to properly align the directions. Now you have a rough idea of where to look in the sky for the ISS as it passes over.

On the Star Chart page, above the right corner of the star chart in blue letters, click on "Ground Track"

You now see the path of the ISS where it passes directly above the Earth. Anyone on that line would see on their list of passes "Highest Point" "Alt" is 90.

You also see your location as a small black square with its label. The longitude and latitude lines are showing every whole 10 degrees. The lighted circle is your horizon to horizon viewing area. From this map, you have now have a rough idea of where to search to find a partner.

4. Print this Ground Track page, take a photo of the ground track picture, and post it as your photo for the Waymark.

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During the Evening of May 23, 2017, the ISS will be visible as it passes across the North America Continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Here is a map with times and a few locations. Adjust times as necessary, but I think I got them right. If you are within 240 miles or 386 km of the line, you are probably within the required 45 degree altitude viewing area to create a Waymark. I have added a short 240 mile perpendicular line to illustrate.

 

1a9216bc-cdee-4928-be41-7fb26fcbf2d7.jpg

Edited by 8Nuts MotherGoose
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ripraff, Are you ready to create the Waymark? I am also good for the viewing of the ISS Pass. So that makes 2 of us, enough to meet the requirements.

My home location is at an "Alt" of only 44, which is not high enough. However, I will be playing cards with friends 50 miles West. Their home is at an "Alt" of 47, which is high enough. Their home sits within a mile of the Mexico Border in Texas.

I will be in Rio Grande City, TX, USA at Alt=47 at 21:52:32.

 

We can have as many people as we want along the flight path as long as each person is at least 1 minute of flight time from the others.

Who else wants to join us?

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Benchmark Blasterz, give us your information of City, and the Time and Alt for your Highest Point.

 

We can set this up as one long series of observers, or as several pairs of observers, with a triple for the odd person.

If anyone else wants to join us, go to the Heavens Above web page for your town and list the "Time" and "Alt" for the "Highest Point" when you make your post. If you have problems doing that, let us know and we'll help you through it.

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It will be visible for me at 22:59 May 23, tomorrow. It looks like Canada might be the spot to see it within a minute.

 

I have tomorrow night in Ottawa at 23h00 at 90 degrees.

 

ripraff and elyob - I need to see your exact time including seconds for your "Highest Point". The two of you may be too close (less than 1 minute of flight time), but we can still pair you with others.

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During the Evening of May 23, 2017, the ISS will be visible as it passes across the North America Continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Here is a map with times and a few locations. Adjust times as necessary, but I think I got them right. If you are within 240 miles or 386 km of the line, you are probably within the required 45 degree altitude viewing area to create a Waymark. I have added a short 240 mile perpendicular line to illustrate.

 

1a9216bc-cdee-4928-be41-7fb26fcbf2d7.jpg

 

Well, there goes that idea for us on the west coast. Good luck to everyone trying to get this one completed. It's one of my favorite categories and I have yet to accomplish it in my posted waymarks. I haven't been able to fully commit to doing this waymark just yet. I've seen the ISS numerous times but I think I'll have to wait until it peaks over Southern California. Let us know how it goes and when the waymarks get published!

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Well, there goes that idea for us on the west coast. Good luck to everyone trying to get this one completed. It's one of my favorite categories and I have yet to accomplish it in my posted waymarks. I haven't been able to fully commit to doing this waymark just yet. I've seen the ISS numerous times but I think I'll have to wait until it peaks over Southern California. Let us know how it goes and when the waymarks get published!

 

Hang in there, Bluesnote. We'll get to you next.

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Well, there goes that idea for us on the west coast. Good luck to everyone trying to get this one completed. It's one of my favorite categories and I have yet to accomplish it in my posted waymarks. I haven't been able to fully commit to doing this waymark just yet. I've seen the ISS numerous times but I think I'll have to wait until it peaks over Southern California. Let us know how it goes and when the waymarks get published!

 

Hang in there, Bluesnote. We'll get to you next.

 

What town are you from? Then I can see how the ISS passes over you and set something up.

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Benchmark Blasterz, give us your information of City, and the Time and Alt for your Highest Point.

 

We can set this up as one long series of observers, or as several pairs of observers, with a triple for the odd person.

If anyone else wants to join us, go to the Heavens Above web page for your town and list the "Time" and "Alt" for the "Highest Point" when you make your post. If you have problems doing that, let us know and we'll help you through it.

 

Garland TX

 

21:54:10

 

89 degrees

Edited by Benchmark Blasterz
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We have 6 people ready to create Waymarks for the International Space Station Sightings Category.

ripraff near Binghamton, NY, elyob in Kanata, ON, and TriciaG in Bowmanville,ON. All three are within 1 minute of flight time of each other. Rules say they are not allowed to pair up to create Waymarks.

We also have Benchmark Blasterz in Garland, TX and TerraViators in Denton, TX. Both of them are within 1 minute of flight time of each other. Rules say they are not allowed to pair up to create Waymarks.

The final person is myself, 8Nuts MotherGoose, in Rio Grande City, TX.

Three of us have created ISS Pass Waymarks in the past: elyob, Benchmark Blasterz, and 8Nuts MotherGoose.

If we create pairs using 1 experienced person with 1 new experience person and prevent any pair from being too close to each other, we find that:

Elyob will work with TerraViators.

Benchmark Blasterz will work with TriciaG.

8Nuts MotherGoose will work with ripraff.

 

Remember to communicate with your partner. You need to exchange information about locations, and all the data on the line listed for your pass.

If you get clouded out and can not see the ISS, tell your partner. He/She can still create a Waymark, if the ISS was seen, by noting that you were clouded out.

 

If anyone else wants to join us, please post your City, State/Provence, "Time", and "Alt" listed under "Highest Point." and we'll try to work you in. Deadline for this ISS Pass Waymark Creation is 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

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Here are some interesting facts about the International Space Station.

It's orbit is 249 miles or 400.73 km above the Earth.

One orbit around the Earth takes 90 minutes.

Speed: 27,600 km/h or 17,200 mph

Speed: 7.67 km/s or 4.758 miles/s

 

The speed of the ISS is hard to grasp so lets use a quick analogy. Lets say you are standing on the goal line of a football field with a high power rifle aimed at the other goal and the ISS flies by. As the nose of the ISS reaches you, you fire the rifle. When the ISS reaches the other goal line, the bullet has traveled 30 feet.

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Here are some interesting facts about the International Space Station.

It's orbit is 249 miles or 400.73 km above the Earth.

One orbit around the Earth takes 90 minutes.

Speed: 27,600 km/h or 17,200 mph

Speed: 7.67 km/s or 4.758 miles/s

 

The speed of the ISS is hard to grasp so lets use a quick analogy. Lets say you are standing on the goal line of a football field with a high power rifle aimed at the other goal and the ISS flies by. As the nose of the ISS reaches you, you fire the rifle. When the ISS reaches the other goal line, the bullet has traveled 30 feet.

 

That is awesome! 25226.667 feet per second and my 7.62 reloads sizzle at just under 3000 fps. Wow. :o

 

I did hear a sonic boom once as the space shuttle re-entered over SW Virginia and landed in Florida in less than 2 minutes. :)

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Bluesnote is looking for a partner and an ISS Pass.

Tonight, after the above listed pass, the ISS will orbit the Earth in 90 minutes and the Earth will spin eastward 1350 miles at the 30th Latitude. The ISS will arrive back in the USA above Los Angeles at 21:27:18 Pacific Daylight Savings Time.

Here is a map of that pass and some nearby cities.

65ed4649-462b-4127-9425-e910a695b356.jpg

 

This is quick notice. We may have to try a later date if nobody responds.

Edited by 8Nuts MotherGoose
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Searching for a Partner.

When I find an ISS Pass to observe. I search along its path and find a larger city within the "Alt" is greater than 45 area. I then search for Waymarks in the City. When I find several newer (2012 or newer) Waymarks by the same owner, I check their profile page. If they have logged in recently, I contact them. If they haven't, I may check their Geocaching profile page to see if they are still active there. If they are, I figure they may still help me out with the Waymark and I contact them.

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Question:

 

Need some clarification here as this line is not totally clear to me:

 

"This relatively simple challenge is to observe the International Space Station (ISS) one minute before or after at least one other player sees it from their location."

 

As stated, to fulfill the requirements the two participants need to make their observations exactly one minute apart. My interpretation would be that the observations need to occur within one minute (real time, not ISS travel time) of each other (less than or equal to 60 seconds). Correct?

 

Keith

Edited by BK-Hunters
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Question:

 

Need some clarification here as this line is not totally clear to me:

 

"This relatively simple challenge is to observe the International Space Station (ISS) one minute before or after at least one other player sees it from their location."

 

As stated, to fulfill the requirements the two participants need to make their observations exactly one minute apart. My interpretation would be that the observations need to occur within one minute (real time, not ISS travel time) of each other (less than or equal to 60 seconds). Correct?

 

Keith

The waymark details page says that the two observers have to be at least 1 minute apart.

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Uhhh - it's RAINING in Dallas.

 

At 2150 we shall see what we shall see -- but maybe not.

 

The Weather Channel says mostly cloudy after 2000, but WFAA-TV's Pete Delkus says clearing after midnight; sunny with clear skies for the next several days.

 

KXAS-TV says showers ending late this evening with clearing overnight.

 

I'll step outside anyway, but I am not hopeful.

 

:sad::sad::sad::sad:

Edited by Benchmark Blasterz
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Question:

 

Need some clarification here as this line is not totally clear to me:

 

"This relatively simple challenge is to observe the International Space Station (ISS) one minute before or after at least one other player sees it from their location."

 

As stated, to fulfill the requirements the two participants need to make their observations exactly one minute apart. My interpretation would be that the observations need to occur within one minute (real time, not ISS travel time) of each other (less than or equal to 60 seconds). Correct?

 

Keith

The waymark details page says that the two observers have to be at least 1 minute apart.

 

Each observer must be at least 1 minute of flight time along the ISS Path from each other using the "time" at the "Highest Point". If person A's Highest Point time is 22:23:24, then Person B's Highest Point Time must be before 22:22:23 or after 22:24:25. It does not have to be "Exactly" 1 minute.

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Deadline for this ISS Pass Waymark Creation is 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. ???

What does this mean?

Do we create it before and submit after?

The pass is tonight. Is it by 7pm tomorrow or tonight, before the pass?

 

Sorry, I worded it wrong. I meant the deadline for other people to state in this Forum that they want to join us for this observation is 7 pm Eastern DS Time.

The Waymark can be written and submitted any time after the observation.

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I submitted the waymark! I will cancel the submission or it can be rejected. Since 8Nuts MotherGoose is a reviewer I thought it would allow for comments in the decline. If it is too cloudy it can be used as a template for another try.

 

Thanks, ripraff, I got your submission. I have not opened it to review it since you may have to make corrections due to clouds. You can make your changes and resubmit.

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As ripraff said, it can be used as a template.

Open one of the previously approved Waymarks will show you how to write your Waymark.

TITLE - The Cities should be listed in the order the ISS flew over, generally SW to NE or NW to SE. Then add which Site the Waymark is written about. The first city would be Site 1, the second city would be Site 2, etc.

For the two Waymarks that ripraff and I create, the Titles would be:

Rio Grand City, TX - Vestal, NY Site 1 (My Waymark)

Rio Grand City, TX - Vestal, NY Site 2 (His Waymark)

 

For the short description, list the observers and the date:

Observer 1 and Observer 2 made an ISS Sighting on the evening of May 23, 2017.

 

For the main Description, for each observer, list the Brightness of the pass, and the Highest point Time and Altitude. Also calculate the distance between the two observation point along the path. The information may be written as dry statistics, or you may include it in your own writing style.

At 06:26:37 the ISS came out of the Earth’s shadow and lit up through the fog with a brightness magnitude of -3.4 at an altitude of 64° due West. Observer A saw it reach a maximum altitude of 69° at 06:26:55. About one minute later the ISS disappeared as the fog thickened.

Observer B also saw the ISS on the same pass. The weather there was clear. The ISS reached a maximum altitude of 56° at 06:28:28 with a brightness of -3.4.

The distance between the two points along the ISS flight path is 454 miles.

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Well, there goes that idea for us on the west coast. Good luck to everyone trying to get this one completed. It's one of my favorite categories and I have yet to accomplish it in my posted waymarks. I haven't been able to fully commit to doing this waymark just yet. I've seen the ISS numerous times but I think I'll have to wait until it peaks over Southern California. Let us know how it goes and when the waymarks get published!

 

Hang in there, Bluesnote. We'll get to you next.

 

What town are you from? Then I can see how the ISS passes over you and set something up.

 

I'm in Mission Viejo, California. If you drew a line from Los Angeles to San Diego, Mission Viejo would pretty much be in the middle.

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Bluesnote is looking for a partner and an ISS Pass.

Tonight, after the above listed pass, the ISS will orbit the Earth in 90 minutes and the Earth will spin eastward 1350 miles at the 30th Latitude. The ISS will arrive back in the USA above Los Angeles at 21:27:18 Pacific Daylight Savings Time.

Here is a map of that pass and some nearby cities.

65ed4649-462b-4127-9425-e910a695b356.jpg

 

This is quick notice. We may have to try a later date if nobody responds.

 

Oh, that's perfect! I'll be able to see it tonight if it's not cloudy. It's been sunny here all day today with no clouds in site, but I live near the ocean and it's been foggy these past few days once the sun goes below the horizon. June gloom is almost in full swing. If I haven't fallen asleep studying for finals, I'll keep a look out for it. Who would like to join me if you are in sight of the ISS on this approach?

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Just got back from friends in Rio Grand City, TX. ISS came out of storm clouds at an Alt of about 30 degrees to our west. It passed max Alt of 47 degrees at 21:52:34 according to the chart. (but we didn't have a seconds-accurate clock.) It continued on its path until disappearing behind clouds to our north. Although the chart said it was a brightness magnitude of -2.8, it appeared much less due to haze in the air.

We were seeing reflections of lightning, but weren't hearing thunder. Storm is moving toward us.

Edited by 8Nuts MotherGoose
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Question:

 

Need some clarification here as this line is not totally clear to me:

 

"This relatively simple challenge is to observe the International Space Station (ISS) one minute before or after at least one other player sees it from their location."

 

As stated, to fulfill the requirements the two participants need to make their observations exactly one minute apart. My interpretation would be that the observations need to occur within one minute (real time, not ISS travel time) of each other (less than or equal to 60 seconds). Correct?

 

Keith

 

Each observer must be at least 1 minute of flight time along the ISS Path from each other using the "time" at the "Highest Point". If person A's Highest Point time is 22:23:24, then Person B's Highest Point Time must be before 22:22:23 or after 22:24:25. It does not have to be "Exactly" 1 minute.

 

That explanation seems pretty clear. Given that, then the only meaningful and pertinent requirement would be this:

"Participants need to be at least one minute of ISS travel time (293 miles or 472 km) apart, and the ISS must reach at least 45° altitude for all players located below 55° N/S latitude". It should follow, then, that the actual "time" of the sighting recorded by each participant is essentially irrelevant.

 

IE, if each had partly cloudy skies during an east to west pass, the more easterly participant could, if need be, record a sighting time when the ISS was to his east and the more westerly participant could record a sighting time when the ISS was to his west, making the actual times reported 2 or more minutes apart.

 

A good plan would be to copy and paste your explanation above onto the requirements page as it is quite clear, succinct, to the point and, importantly, more clearly states what the requirements page is presently trying to convey.

 

Later, when clear skies are more reliably predicted (as in June, July or August) I had planned to try it with Dunbar Loop, but it turns out he is too close. Guess I'll have to give someone like The Beav a call.

 

Keith

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Well, it ended up being just a bit too cloudy here. I saw patches of sky, but not enough to see any stars or the ISS. :(

 

Friday night, approx 10:00 pm EDT might work for me. Looks like the path is visible for southern IL to Maine and Quebec. That will be my last chance for the foreseeable future. (There is a pass tonight, but it is forecast to be raining.)

Edited by TriciaG
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[quote

That explanation seems pretty clear. Given that, then the only meaningful and pertinent requirement would be this:

"Participants need to be at least one minute of ISS travel time (293 miles or 472 km) apart, and the ISS must reach at least 45° altitude for all players located below 55° N/S latitude". It should follow, then, that the actual "time" of the sighting recorded by each participant is essentially irrelevant.

 

IE, if each had partly cloudy skies during an east to west pass, the more easterly participant could, if need be, record a sighting time when the ISS was to his east and the more westerly participant could record a sighting time when the ISS was to his west, making the actual times reported 2 or more minutes apart.

 

 

We, the Reviewers, use the Highest Point Time as a Location point on the Flight path. If the two parties show a time difference of one minute or greater then we know they were at least 293 miles/472 km apart. We can also verify those times by doing an ISS search for their towns and checking the pass Highest Point time.

Most passes last about 6 minutes. The center of that 6-minute window of opportunity is the Highest Point. any viewing during those 6 minutes is acceptable. If you see it to the West as it rises, and then it goes behind clouds, or disappears into the Earths shadow, before the Highest Point, it is acceptable. If you don't see it until after the Highest Point, it is acceptable.

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Well, it ended up being just a bit too cloudy here. I saw patches of sky, but not enough to see any stars or the ISS. :(

 

Friday night, approx 10:00 pm EDT might work for me. Looks like the path is visible for southern IL to Maine and Quebec. That will be my last chance for the foreseeable future. (There is a pass tonight, but it is forecast to be raining.)

 

BUMMER!! If I'm on Friday's pass (and it's not at a nutty time), I'll go out and look.

 

Gary - I have my waymark written and ready to go, except for the name of my partner for site 2. :) thanks

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Well, it ended up being just a bit too cloudy here. I saw patches of sky, but not enough to see any stars or the ISS. :(

 

Friday night, approx 10:00 pm EDT might work for me. Looks like the path is visible for southern IL to Maine and Quebec. That will be my last chance for the foreseeable future. (There is a pass tonight, but it is forecast to be raining.)

 

Thank you, TriciaG, for your report. Be sure that Benchmark Blasterz has your City and High Point Time and Alt.

Benchmark Blasterz CAN create an ISS Waymark. They need to give all information about TriciaG in their write-up and then add a comment that TriciaG was clouded out and unable to view the ISS.

This lets the Reviewer know that Benchmark Blasterz had a partner, exchanged information with that partner, but the partner did not see the ISS and will not be submitting a Waymark.

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