Saturday, April 23, 2011

International Space Station (ISS)


For about two weeks the ISS will be very visible in the night sky, but only for about two minutes at a time depending upon your location (it streaks across the sky going about 17,000 mph). To figure out the time each night to see the station from your location go to the NASA website
(click on the image to get the full size and see the station streaking across the night sky)
After I missed it Wednesday night, I was more mindful of it the following night. Thursday night it was visible over Millbrook at 9:00 PM for two minutes, so I went to the weather station at the Cary Institute and setup my camera to try and capture the station streaking across the sky. It is visible in the image above, although it's not the best shot, there is just too much light pollution from NYC, and it didn't help that there was a big cloud in the sky (pink from the light pollution). I was hoping to try photographing it again this weekend from the clearer night sky in NH, but the weather may not cooperate.
I heard on NPR that you can see the shape of the station with a good pair of binoculars, which is something I will try when we get another clear night. The forecast looks wet and cloudy for the next few nights.