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For the first time ever, i have seen the ISS. Who else has?


ChrisSpace

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I live in Sweden, quite a bit north of the equator, so some of the planets are hard to spot, when it gets dark, as most of them are close to (if not below) the horizon at that time. I have however seen Mars and Jupiter (and Venus as it's sometimes referred to as "The Morning Star" in Sweden, because of it's bright shine like a star in the morning and evening) without a telescope, on rare occations when they are visible without such. Another problem is that in the winter the nights come early and are very long here, so it's dark for most part of the day, but it's cold. In the summer it's warm and nice and you really want to be outside, but the sunlight stays until late and the nights are short. So observing stars, planets and moons are quite a difficulity at some times, but I'd really like to do it (if I had a telescope :/).

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I think I saw it once. My grandfather and I were working on his boat when we saw some bright dot moving across the sky in broad daylight (the sun was at a reasonable angle to it, so I say it was possible).

I've also seen some satellites by accident, two at once, that was cool.

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Ok, lemme get my checklist.

These are all with naked eye.

Mercury

Venus

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

67 Sats

29 Meteors

3 times the ISS

1 time Tiangong

1 Soyuz

2 Progresses

3 Shuttles

2 Dark Meteors

And that's it.

I have seen 300+ objects with telescopes.

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DMSP, I cannot say how lucky you are! I would love that. But I live in a city too, and guess what? Last night 11:54 PM, I saw the ISS! It rose SSW and came down E, and it was very nice to see.. Even if it was a rapidly moving 'star.' That's what it looked like..

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DMSP, I cannot say how lucky you are! I would love that. But I live in a city too, and guess what? Last night 11:54 PM, I saw the ISS! It rose SSW and came down E, and it was very nice to see.. Even if it was a rapidly moving 'star.' That's what it looked like..

Thank you!

It's great you saw the ISS!

What a wonderful station.

Me and my friends aren't your typical teens, we tend to talk about deep stuff and we stargaze.

Have fun everyone, and look up!

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My mother bought me a telescope for my birthday, which was a big surprise. For the first time, I saw the Moon properly. It was Halloween, and instead of wasting time on candy treating or something like that, me and my friend took my telescope to the river bank. It was very foggy suddenly, and it was a full Moon(just the Halloween mood). Just as i set things up, the fog dissipated in a mere minute, and we saw the Moon properly. It was the most exciting thing I've done.

Before that, I saw the ISS from various parts of the world a number of times, dragging along acquaintances and friends. I also saw the ATV5 and the Progress once.

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I know, right! Sidereus, nice pictures nontheless! I tried one last night without the tripod and I could not keep my camera steady, hard when it's zoomed in..

It sure is great, DMSP! I know, it is a great achievement.. I'm not your typical teen either, I sort of do the same stuff, but unfortunately my friends don't, I have to drag them to see stuff..

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Well, I was lucky to catch a glimpse of it yesterday - Saturday for us.

Looking up on NASA's Spot The Station website, from where I live, it was going to pass by at 7:15 PM. I was determined to sight it - I set an alarm, and kept it in my head.

Later that day, I found out that our family was going to have dinner out - Oh noes. Was I going to miss the chance?

It was good that the "mall" was of rather unique design - much of the branches were visible outdoors, with the structure surrounding a large, park-like outdoor center. In short, the sky was visible from where we were to eat. I looked at my watch every few seconds, in anticipation for the sighting as the meals came. (Saavorryy...) Anyways, the clock hit 7:15, and I made my way outside and waited. It was clear - barely any clouds, dark with a hint of dusk, and nothing else to see. 7:16? 17? I was nearly going to give up.

Out of the blue, a quick moving dot in the sky caught my attention. I knew it wasn't an aircraft - They'd often be blinking, and at that striking distance, would've been spooling with their engines distinctive sounds. It looked like a star, indeed. This was moving quick, and it was just - there. A single speck of light, drifting across the sky. I was convinced this was the International Space Station I saw.

Thanks, guys. I never really found any motivation to attempt spotting a station until now.

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59 Mins until station is visible.

Standing by.

Nice photos by the way!

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and:

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We go where no one has gone before. In certain games.

- - - Updated - - -

and:

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Our rockets are made of the best materials. The term "Best" is an opinion.

Edited by DMSP
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Wow, awesome! I use the Spot The Station website too, it is a very good one indeed! I set alarms, and I wait for hours to see the ISS! Sounds like you ended up having a good time, congrats on your spot!

Thanks :) Although it was only brief, about 7-10 seconds, it was still breathtaking. Good thing NASA had that tool :)

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I've seen the ISS a couple of times by chance while camping or meteor shower gazing, and it is truly distinct and awesome. I've also probably seen hundreds of Iridium satellite flares by now, which can be pretty cool as well.

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I use Star Chart to track it, but somehow it always seems to be below the horizon when I have a chance to take a look. I did spot, on several occasions, satellites, but without my trusted phone app I would not be able to tell you what those were.

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I know, right! Sidereus, nice pictures nontheless! I tried one last night without the tripod and I could not keep my camera steady, hard when it's zoomed in..

The tripod is necessary. You need a fairly long exposure to get anything to show up at night, and you can't hold a camera still long enough by hand. You also need to be able to trigger the camera remotely somehow, as pushing the button will cause vibration. The timer countdown method works, as does a remote trigger. And if your camera has a mirror, it's not a bad idea to use the mirror lockup feature, if your camera has it; mirror slap also causes vibrations.

I've also probably seen hundreds of Iridium satellite flares by now, which can be pretty cool as well.

I saw a couple Iridium flares a year or so back while stargazing. I didn't know what it was at the time. It looked to me like something was breaking up and/or reentering because of the huge variation in brightness levels. Then it happened again a short time later. Pretty dramatic.

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I know, right! Sidereus, nice pictures nontheless! I tried one last night without the tripod and I could not keep my camera steady, hard when it's zoomed in..

It sure is great, DMSP! I know, it is a great achievement.. I'm not your typical teen either, I sort of do the same stuff, but unfortunately my friends don't, I have to drag them to see stuff..

Any normal photographer would tell you you're mad trying to holda camera steady with your hands during a 15+ sec exposure, while zoomed in :D read some material before attempting something so daring.

People put sandbags under their tripods when taking photos of the stars of the ISS to reduce vibrations, and even lock the mirror in advance to the exposure!

Also, you need the right aperture and ISO settings, which you have to adjust manually to suit the situation.

Edited by SpaceXray
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A few times I saw the ISS by accident. At first I think it's a plane since we live a few miles from the airport, but the specific movement that the dot does later gets me to realize that what I am seeing is a satellite, not a plane.

I have an app that tells me ISS flyby and Iridium flare times (among other things) courtesy of Heavens-Above.

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I've seen it about 12 times. Each time was intentional. I have an app that shows satellite/debris/iridium flare occurrences. It also includes the obvious astronomical objects (stars, planets, etc.). It's called "Sky Guide" I think. I last used it to see the ISS about 47 minutes ago. The first man-made object I saw was the Tiangong-1. It passed straight over us.

Edited by JackDugan
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