ISS Cygnus 'space chase' seen from Ireland

From: David Moore\(Ireland\) via Seesat-l <"David>
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2021 15:36:29 +0000 (UTC)
Not sure if this is the place to post this but need to share :)
As per prediction that Astronomy Ireland issued to 100,000 people on social media in Ireland last night, I saw the Cygnus craft 4.0seconds behind ISS this morning from Ireland at 06:08UT.(2021 Feb. 22)
Streetlights in the way and very low so viewed from an upstairs window so didn't get an accurate magnitude estimate but ISS was visible easily next to a streetlight 10 metres away shining straight into my face but could not see Cygnus under those conditions so used binoculars to time it passing a couple of stars that ISS passed close to 4.0 seconds earlier. Like a previous poster I thought Cygnus a little orange/red?
ISS passed a few degrees above Antares. ISS was about a dozen degrees altitude when I spotted it in a rare clear sky for Ireland :)
At orbital velocity of 7700m/s that's a 31km gap at least (19 miles)
Cygnus was a lot fainter than I expected having seen many 'space chases' over the decades. At least 10 times dimmer, maybe more?
Still, an amazing sight as I haven't seen a close 'space chase' in a few years.
David Moore BSc FRAS,Editor Astronomy Ireland magazine
_______________________________________________
Seesat-l mailing list
http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l
Received on Mon Feb 22 2021 - 09:37:49 UTC

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Mon Feb 22 2021 - 15:37:49 UTC