Not that this is important , but I got to watch the Space Shuttle as it scooted up the East Coast appearing much faster than when it is in orbit - seen in Easton, PA (latitude 40 degrees) about 7 or 8 minutes after launch - moving at the break-neck speed of some old fashion racing plane --- big plume of sparks -- like the mental image most lay people think that a comet would assume... a real astronomical treat. Some clouds were in its path and the engine plume went on and off many times - but I suspect that was the variable thickness of the clouds. And it was not visible by the time it got to due East of me. In the thick clouds, I think the engine burn-out was scheduled at about that time anyway. All along it appeared to be about 10 to 15 degrees above the horizon. The shuttle was not really illuminated by the Sun - just the bright plume pouring out behind it like a stubby short but dynamic comet tail -- obvious to the naked eye and more dramatic through binoculars. Magnitude - hard to estimate - it was much larger than a planet maybe a tenth of the size of the Moon - bronze like color that was not bright as a planet - the color was like of the star Betelgeuse. Overall size and brightness made it the most dramatic object in the sky at that moment. Really impressive... Terry Pundiak, Easton, PA ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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