Did I See the ISS?

Hey gang,

I SAW A BRIGHT SPOT IN THE SKY AND IT WASN'T THE MOON!

In fact, what I believe I saw was the International Space Station (ISS) slowly gliding Southwest of here. I've seen the same spot in the same area several times over the past few days...

The thing is that it was about 7:00 PM here when I saw it. Earlier this yearthat would have been in the day, well before sunset, but now, the sun was set and the sky was getting darker, so the "spot" was visible!

I tried to do some "reading up", but didn't find what I wanted yet. So if there are any "experts out there, well, chime in!

Well, dang, a friend pointed me to a site, I poked around there, the problem I ran into with the chart is that it "shows" the ISS as appearing northwest of here and moving from the west to the east, whereas what I saw was south of here and moving to the west, so, dang, it must not have been the ISS!

The odd thing is that the time when I was watching it, a few minutes after 7:00 PM, aligns just right with the viewing times the chart showed, Dang!

Heavens-Above.com
Put in your location info and it'll give you pass info for not only the ISS but also other visible satellites.

Yeah, that's the site I've checked, thanks!

I'm done with it for now, if tomorrow "gifts" us with clear skies and I see the "dot" again, I'll check things out again and maybe even get a nice long exposure photo!

tonylong wrote in post #16386418
Yeah, that's the site I've checked, thanks!

I'm done with it for now, if tomorrow "gifts" us with clear skies and I see the "dot" again, I'll check things out again and maybe even get a nice long exposure photo!

Venus is very bright in the WSW sky, however you wouldn't see it moving

tonylong wrote in post #16386418
Yeah, that's the site I've checked, thanks!

I'm done with it for now, if tomorrow "gifts" us with clear skies and I see the "dot" again, I'll check things out again and maybe even get a nice long exposure photo!

There is more then one site to track the ISS and satellites, here is NASA's site for the ISS. When you do see it there is no doubt that it's moving, unless maybe if you were located in the direct line of it's flight path. Still you can tell that it is hauling a$$, after all, got to keep those astronauts in a free fall.

Well, dang, here's a shot, 10 minutes pointing directly southwest!

Well that's sure not Venus!

Wallace River wrote in post #16392196
Well that's sure not Venus!

Or anything else outside our atmosphere.

Was it visible for 10 mins or just the exposure? 10 mins would be a LONG pass and would usually be over head or close to it.

Oh that's what it was then. I was like umm north star seems too low and is BRIGHT!

Stiggyiggy wrote in post #16392506
Was it visible for 10 mins or just the exposure? 10 mins would be a LONG pass and would usually be over head or close to it.

I do look at the tracking for ISS somewhat regular, the longest pass I've seen is about 6 min, not saying it couldn't be longer, just never seen that.

However Tony said the shot was taken pointing SW (southwest) It looks to me that at the time of the exposure you have the round spot then a trail going off in the SW direction. The ISS travels from west to east. In his first post " I've seen the same spot in the same area several times over the past few days..." I've never known the ISS to be in the same spot several days in a row, my vote is for Venus

I can't imagine it being Venus or any other "stationary" object, that object is definitely on the move, that "track" was 10 minutes, and it' was out there again tonight, in approximately the same position/trajectory!

I should say the shot was done at 105mm, so it's not a "wide" shot