Astroblog: October 2023

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday, November 5. Saturn is highest in the northern evening sky around 9 p.m. local time. Jupiter is rising around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky. Jupiter is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 3rd.Venus is high in the morning twilight but is beginning to head towards the horizon.

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday, November 5.The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 7th.

Evening sky on Saturday, November 4 as seen from Adelaide at 21:13 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset), Saturn is above the northern horizon. The inset is the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

The bright satellite Titan is close to Saturn, making a nice view.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Evening sky on Friday, November 3 as seen from Adelaide at 21:20 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. The inset is the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Io and its shadow are passing over Jupiter at this time and Io will exit Jupiter's disk in around 40 minutes.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Morning sky on Thursday, November 9 as seen from Adelaide at 05:06 ACDST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Venus is beginning to lower in the morning twilight. The inset is the telescopic view of Venus at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Whole sky on Saturday, November 4 as seen from Adelaide at 21:22 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Saturn is high in the north, and Jupiter is rising in the east.

Scorpius is setting and Sagittarius is readily visible below the zenith heading towards the western horizon.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the morning twilight.

Venus is high in the morning twilight, it will now sink towards the horizon but will remain easily visible for all of November.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Jupiter rises around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky. It is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 3rd.

Saturn is past opposition but is still bright and a worthwhile telescopic object.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:12 pm 0 comments

Morning sky on Sunday, October 29 as seen from Perth at 05:04 AWST, (shortly before Moon-set click to embiggen).

The moon is just beginning to enter the Earth's inner shadow. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time.

3:35 am AWST Partial eclipse (Umbral) begins

4:14 am AWST Maximum Eclipse (only a chip covered)

5:23 am AWST Moon set

From the rest of Australia, the Moon will have set before any significant amount of eclipse happens. A tiny sliver of the eclipse is seen from Adelaide just before the Moon sets.

Labels: eclipse, lunar eclipse, Moon

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 2:14 pm 0 comments


Morning sky on Tuesday, October 31 as seen from Adelaide at 00:40 ACDST, (click to embiggen). The moon is just about to cover the star Merope in the Pleiades. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time (click to embiggen).	Morning sky on Tuesday, October 31 as seen from Melbourne at 01:00 AEDST, (click to embiggen). The moon is just about to cover the star Merope in the Pleiades. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time (click to embiggen).	Evening sky on Monday, October 30 as seen from Perth at 23:00 AWST, (click to embiggen). The moon is just about to cover the star Atlas in the Pleiades. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time (click to embiggen).

On the late evening 30th/early morning 31st the just past Full Moon will pass over (occult) some bright stars in the iconic Pleiades cluster. From eastern states and SA the most stars will be covered. WA sees only one bright star covered and Darwin sees the Moon brush the edge of the cluster.

While potentially visible to the unaided eye, this is best seen with binoculars or a telescope. The bright Moon will wash out all but the brightest members of the Pleiades. Fortunately, for most of Australia at least one of the bright stars in the cluster, Merope (Mag 4.2) Alcyone (Mag 2.8) and Atlas (Mag. 3.6) are covered. Most of the east coast and SA gets all 3 covered.

Timings for the covering of Merope and Alcyone are give below (except for WA where Atlas is given), Atlas is covered not long after Alcyone for the east coast and SA.

	Merope DB	Merope RD	Alcyone DB	Alcyone RD
Adelaide ACDST	00:43	1:15	1:33	1:57
Brisbane AEST	00:30	1:27	1:24	2:11
Canberra AEDST	1:13	2:19	2:03	3:04
Darwin ACST	-	-	-	-
Hobart AEDST	1:05	2:15	1:52	2:59
Melbourne AEDST	1:07	2:09	1:55	2:53
Perth AWST (30th)	23:10*	23:44*	-	-
Sydney AEDST	1:17	2:24	2:07	3:09

DB - disappear bright limb, RD - reappear dark limb.

* In Perth the Moon misses Merope and Alcyone, but passes over the bight star Atlas instead on the late evening of the 30th.

It’s best to set up around 30 minutes before the occultation so you can get oriented in the sky and don’t miss the beginning while fussing with equipment.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: binoculars, Moon, Occultation, Pleiades, telescope

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:20 pm 0 comments

The Full Moon is Sunday, October 29. Saturn is highest in the northern evening sky around 9 p.m. local time. Jupiter is rising around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky. It is close to the Moon on the 29th. Venus is high in the morning twilight but is beginning to head towards the horizon. There is a partial lunar eclipse really only visible in WA as the moon sets on the morning of the 29th. There is a spectacular occultation of the Pleiades cluster from the late 30th to early 31st.

The Full Moon is Sunday, October 29. There is a partial lunar eclipse really only visible in WA as the moon sets on the morning of the 29th. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the earth, on the 26th.

Evening sky on Saturday, October 28 as seen from Adelaide at 21:13 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset), Saturn is above the northern horizon. The inset is the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Evening sky on Sunday, October 29 as seen from Adelaide at 23:00 ACDST. Jupiter is above the horizon with the Moon below. The inset is the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (an hour before local midnight).

Morning sky on Tuesday, October 31 as seen from Adelaide at 00:40 ACDST, (click to embiggen). The moon is just about to cover the star Merope in the Pleiades. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time.

about 30 minutes later the moon will cover the brightest star of the Pleiades, Alcyone.

From Brisbane, Merope is covered at 00:30 AEST

From Melbourne, Merope is covered at 01:07 AEDST

From Perth, Atlas is covered at 23:10 AWST on the 30th.

From Darwin, the Moon grazes the outer edges of the Pleiades.

Morning sky on Sunday, October 29 as seen from Perth at 05:04 AWST, (~10 minutes before moon-set, click to embiggen). The moon is just beginning to enter the Earth's inner shadow. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time.

From the rest of Australia, the moon will have set before any significant amount of eclipse happens.

Morning sky on Saturday, October 28 as seen from Adelaide at 05:20 ACDST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Venus is beginning to lower in the morning twilight. The inset is the telescopic view of Venus at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Whole sky on Saturday, Saturday, October 28 as seen from Adelaide at 21:04 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Saturn is high in the north, and Jupiter is rising in the east.

Scorpius and Sagittarius are readily visible below the zenith heading towards the western horizon.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the morning twilight.

Venus is high and furthest from the Sun on the 24th, it will now sink towards the horizon.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Jupiter rises around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky. It is close to the Moon on the 29th.

Saturn is past opposition but is still bright and a worthwhile telescopic object.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 12:08 am 0 comments

The Moon looking west at astronomical twilight, 90 minutes after sunset as seen from Adelaide on Saturday 21 October (21:04 ACDST, click to embiggen). The inset is the binocular view of the Moon at this time.

International Observe the Moon Night is on Saturday October 21. The moon is almost First Quarter, which is good for crater viewing, there is a lot to see with the unaided eye or binoculars.

location maps from NASA showing where local events are located are available at the link.

The moon is one day away from First quarter, so there will be a lot of interesting carters visible on the moons limb, the sunlight/dark boundary.

At this time the Moon is at maximum libration, with the normally hidden Mare Humboldtanium now visible in binoculars or telescopes.While the moon keeps on face towards the earth, changes in perspective from the Earth and Moons relative positions in their orbits means that sometimes we can see bits of the Moon normally hidden, this is libration.

Other features visible are the very obvious Aristoteles crater with the slightly smaller crater Eudoxus, these two form a distinctive pair. Towards the centre is Ptolemaeus crater, which is joined to the rim of the crater Alphonsus by a section of rugged, irregular terrain, and these form a prominent chain with Arzachel to the south. On the dark/light boundary is the Sea of Serenity, where Apollo 17 landed. See the map to the above left, click to embiggen.

PDF Moon maps from NASA suitable for printing are available at the link.

There are many ways to observe the Moon. Unaided eye, binoculars, telescope. No matter what approach you choose, it will be well worth it to go out and just look up.

Labels: international Observe the Moon Night, Moon, public outreach

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:15 pm 0 comments

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday, October 22. Saturn is highest in the northern evening sky around 9 pm local time. Saturn is close to the waxing Moon on the 24th. Jupiter is rising around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky. Venus is high in the morning twilight and is leaving the star Regulus behind. Venus is furthest from the Sun on the 24th.

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday, October 22. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the earth, on the 26th.

Evening sky on Tuesday, October 24 as seen from Adelaide at 21:08 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset), Saturn is above the northern horizon close to the waxing Moon.. The inset is the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Evening sky on Saturday, October 22 as seen from Adelaide at 23:00 ACDST. Jupiter is above the horizon. The inset is the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (an hour before local midnight).

Morning sky on Saturday, October 21 as seen from Adelaide at 05:29 ACDST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Venus is rising higher in the morning twilight. The inset is the telescopic view of Venus at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Whole sky on Saturday, October 21 as seen from Adelaide at 21:04 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Saturn is high in the north, Jupiter is rising in the east.

Scorpius and Sagittarius are readily visible below the zenith.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the morning twilight.

Venus is high and is leaving the bright star Regulus behind. Venus is furthest from the Sun on the 24th.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Jupiter is rising around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky.

Saturn is past opposition but is still bright and a worthwhile telescopic object. Saturn is close to the waxing Moon on the 24th.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:47 pm 0 comments


The ISS as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Sunday 15 October at 18:48 AEDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot). Click to embiggen.	The ISS as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Sunday 15 October at 19:08 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot). Click to embiggen.	The ISS as seen from Perth on the evening of Sunday 15 October at 19:26 AWST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot). Click to embiggen.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Sunday 15 October for Melbourne.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Sunday 15 October for Adelaide.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Sunday 15 October for Perth.

Over the next few days there are a series of bright ISS passes in the late evening twilight/early evening and the early morning. The ISS passes close to the several bright stars. For several sites the ISS passes through Scorpius (Melbourne very close to Antares on the 14th, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Hobart on the 15th, Sydney on the 13th) or very close to Saturn (Brisbane 12th, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, on the 13th, Hobart very close on the 16th).

The following tables are from data provided from Heavens Above. Particularly impressive passes are highlighted in yellow, passes entering the shadow in blue.

Passes from Adelaide (ACDST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
11 Oct	-3.5	05:19:08	15°	SW	05:21:52	72°	SE	05:25:16	10°	NE	visible
12 Oct	-2.2	04:33:52	36°	ESE	04:33:52	36°	ESE	04:36:37	10°	ENE	visible
12 Oct	-2.1	06:07:36	10°	W	06:09:54	17°	NW	06:12:11	10°	N	visible
12 Oct	-2.8	21:09:58	10°	NW	21:12:15	40°	NW	21:12:15	40°	NW	visible
13 Oct	-2.8	05:22:01	30°	NNW	05:22:01	30°	NNW	05:24:37	10°	NNE	visible
13 Oct	-3.3	20:21:43	10°	NNW	20:24:55	41°	NE	20:27:35	14°	ESE	visible
13 Oct	-0.8	21:59:10	10°	W	22:00:36	17°	WSW	22:00:36	17°	WSW	visible
14 Oct	-1.9	21:10:01	10°	W	21:13:05	31°	SW	21:15:28	15°	SSE	visible
15 Oct	-3.0	20:21:04	10°	WNW	20:24:24	56°	SW	20:27:48	10°	SE	visible
15 Oct	-0.4	22:01:16	10°	SSW	22:01:46	10°	SSW	22:02:16	10°	SSW	visible
16 Oct	-0.7	21:10:53	10°	WSW	21:12:52	14°	SSW	21:14:51	10°	S	visible
17 Oct	-1.1	20:21:17	10°	W	20:23:58	21°	SSW	20:26:42	10°	SSE	visible
19 Oct	-0.5	20:22:38	10°	SW	20:23:35	11°	SSW	20:24:31	10°	S	visible

Passes from Brisbane (AEST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
11 Oct	-0.5	03:17:18	10°	SSE	03:18:39	12°	SE	03:19:59	10°	ESE	visible
11 Oct	-1.0	19:52:49	10°	WNW	19:53:33	15°	WNW	19:53:33	15°	WNW	visible
12 Oct	-3.5	04:03:53	10°	SW	04:07:13	70°	SE	04:10:35	10°	NE	visible
12 Oct	-3.9	19:04:19	10°	NW	19:07:40	74°	NE	19:09:13	30°	SE	visible
13 Oct	-2.0	03:19:00	32°	SE	03:19:00	32°	SE	03:21:49	10°	ENE	visible
13 Oct	-3.0	18:16:12	10°	NNW	18:19:15	33°	NE	18:22:20	10°	ESE	visible
13 Oct	-0.8	19:53:51	10°	W	19:56:02	16°	SW	19:57:35	13°	S	visible
14 Oct	-2.5	04:07:28	25°	NNW	04:07:28	25°	NNW	04:09:41	10°	N	visible
14 Oct	-1.6	19:04:24	10°	WNW	19:07:21	28°	SW	19:10:21	10°	SSE	visible
15 Oct	-3.0	18:15:24	10°	NW	18:18:43	56°	SW	18:22:05	10°	SSE	visible
16 Oct	-0.3	19:06:40	10°	SW	19:07:07	10°	SW	19:07:35	10°	SSW	visible

Passes from Darwin (ACT)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
11 Oct	-1.6	05:58:46	10°	SSW	06:01:47	30°	SE	06:04:47	10°	ENE	visible
11 Oct	-3.4	19:16:19	10°	NNW	19:19:29	42°	NE	19:22:41	10°	SE	visible
12 Oct	-0.6	05:11:22	10°	SSE	05:13:18	14°	SE	05:15:15	10°	E	visible
12 Oct	-0.7	20:05:34	10°	W	20:07:41	16°	SW	20:09:49	10°	S	visible
13 Oct	-3.5	05:58:15	10°	SW	06:01:31	47°	NW	06:04:45	10°	NNE	visible
13 Oct	-1.9	19:16:05	10°	WNW	19:19:09	33°	SW	19:22:14	10°	SSE	visible
14 Oct	-3.4	05:10:30	16°	SSW	05:13:03	65°	SE	05:16:22	10°	NE	visible
15 Oct	-1.0	04:26:06	18°	E	04:26:06	18°	E	04:27:22	10°	ENE	visible
15 Oct	-1.6	06:00:21	10°	WNW	06:00:57	10°	WNW	06:01:32	10°	NW	visible
16 Oct	-1.4	05:14:40	13°	N	05:14:40	13°	N	05:15:08	10°	N	visible

Passes from Hobart (AEDST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
11 Oct	-2.7	04:16:10	43°	E	04:16:10	43°	E	04:18:40	10°	ENE	visible
11 Oct	-2.0	05:49:22	10°	W	05:51:40	17°	NW	05:53:57	10°	N	visible
12 Oct	-2.6	05:03:53	27°	NNW	05:03:53	27°	NNW	05:06:22	10°	NNE	visible
13 Oct	-3.1	20:54:37	10°	NNW	20:57:36	34°	NE	20:57:36	34°	NE	visible
14 Oct	-2.3	20:06:44	10°	N	20:09:21	21°	NE	20:11:59	10°	E	visible
14 Oct	-2.9	21:42:29	10°	WNW	21:45:29	52°	WSW	21:45:29	52°	WSW	visible
15 Oct	-3.8	20:53:48	10°	WNW	20:57:13	88°	SSW	20:59:54	16°	SE	visible
15 Oct	-0.9	22:31:27	10°	WSW	22:32:50	18°	SW	22:32:50	18°	SW	visible
16 Oct	-3.6	20:05:16	10°	NW	20:08:36	55°	NE	20:11:58	10°	ESE	visible
16 Oct	-1.8	21:42:26	10°	W	21:45:30	30°	SSW	21:46:52	22°	SSE	visible
17 Oct	-2.4	20:53:26	10°	W	20:56:41	40°	SSW	20:59:57	10°	SE	visible
17 Oct	-1.0	22:31:31	10°	SW	22:33:29	18°	SSW	22:33:29	18°	SSW	visible
18 Oct	-3.1	20:04:30	10°	WNW	20:07:52	60°	SSW	20:11:17	10°	SE	visible
18 Oct	-1.3	21:42:25	10°	WSW	21:45:07	21°	S	21:46:57	15°	SSE	visible
19 Oct	-1.5	20:53:15	10°	WSW	20:56:08	25°	SSW	20:59:03	10°	SE	visible
19 Oct	-1.0	22:31:08	10°	SW	22:33:07	18°	S	22:33:07	18°	S	visible
20 Oct	-1.9	20:04:03	10°	W	20:07:09	31°	SSW	20:10:16	10°	SE	visible
20 Oct	-1.2	21:42:07	10°	SW	21:44:38	19°	S	21:46:16	14°	SE	visible
20 Oct	-0.2	23:19:04	10°	SW	23:19:08	10°	SW	23:19:08	10°	SW	visible

Passes from Melbourne (AEDST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
11 Oct	-1.3	04:16:10	24°	SE	04:16:10	24°	SE	04:18:26	10°	E	visible
11 Oct	-3.1	05:49:08	10°	WSW	05:52:20	37°	NW	05:55:30	10°	NNE	visible
12 Oct	-3.9	05:03:53	70°	WNW	05:03:58	71°	NW	05:07:22	10°	NE	visible
12 Oct	-1.2	21:41:34	10°	NW	21:42:15	15°	NW	21:42:15	15°	NW	visible
13 Oct	-1.7	05:52:01	12°	NW	05:52:01	12°	NW	05:53:19	10°	NNW	visible
13 Oct	-3.7	20:53:09	10°	NW	20:56:28	56°	NE	20:57:35	35°	ESE	visible
14 Oct	-2.8	20:05:01	10°	NNW	20:08:01	29°	NE	20:11:02	10°	ESE	visible
14 Oct	-1.8	21:41:41	10°	W	21:44:44	29°	SSW	21:45:28	27°	S	visible
15 Oct	-2.7	20:52:43	10°	WNW	20:56:02	47°	SW	20:59:22	10°	SE	visible
15 Oct	-0.3	22:32:00	10°	SW	22:32:51	12°	SSW	22:32:51	12°	SSW	visible
16 Oct	-3.7	20:03:58	10°	NW	20:07:22	86°	SW	20:10:48	10°	SE	visible
16 Oct	-0.8	21:42:22	10°	WSW	21:44:32	16°	SSW	21:46:42	10°	SSE	visible
17 Oct	-1.2	20:52:56	10°	W	20:55:37	21°	SSW	20:58:21	10°	SSE	visible
18 Oct	-1.8	20:03:39	10°	W	20:06:45	31°	SSW	20:09:52	10°	SSE	visible
18 Oct	-0.4	21:43:55	10°	SSW	21:44:20	10°	SSW	21:44:45	10°	S	visible
19 Oct	-0.7	20:53:40	10°	SW	20:55:15	13°	SSW	20:56:50	10°	S	visible
20 Oct	-0.9	20:03:54	10°	WSW	20:06:10	16°	SSW	20:08:26	10°	SSE	visible

Passes from Perth (AWST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
11 Oct	-2.9	04:22:06	10°	SW	04:25:24	52°	SE	04:28:42	10°	ENE	visible
11 Oct	-1.8	19:25:23	10°	N	19:26:36	16°	NNE	19:26:36	16°	NNE	visible
12 Oct	-1.7	03:36:52	28°	SE	03:36:53	28°	SE	03:39:53	10°	E	visible
12 Oct	-2.3	05:10:53	10°	WSW	05:13:29	20°	NW	05:16:04	10°	N	visible
12 Oct	-2.9	20:12:29	10°	NW	20:15:17	50°	W	20:15:17	50°	W	visible
13 Oct	-3.3	04:25:02	40°	NW	04:25:08	40°	NW	04:28:19	10°	NNE	visible
13 Oct	-3.8	19:23:59	10°	NW	19:27:19	67°	NE	19:30:36	11°	SE	visible
13 Oct	-0.3	21:02:44	10°	WSW	21:03:36	12°	SW	21:03:36	12°	SW	visible
14 Oct	-1.1	20:13:02	10°	W	20:15:38	20°	SW	20:18:15	10°	SSE	visible
15 Oct	-2.0	19:23:47	10°	WNW	19:26:54	34°	SW	19:30:03	10°	SSE	visible
17 Oct	-0.7	19:24:43	10°	WSW	19:26:33	14°	SSW	19:28:23	10°	S	visible

Passes from Sydney (AEDST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
11 Oct	-1.4	04:16:10	20°	S	04:17:16	23°	SE	04:20:04	10°	E	visible
11 Oct	-2.8	05:50:58	10°	WSW	05:54:02	30°	NW	05:57:03	10°	NNE	visible
12 Oct	-3.8	05:03:53	25°	WSW	05:05:41	61°	NW	05:09:01	10°	NE	visible
12 Oct	-2.8	20:05:48	10°	N	20:08:42	27°	NE	20:09:12	26°	ENE	visible
13 Oct	-1.9	04:19:00	26°	ENE	04:19:00	26°	ENE	04:20:36	10°	NE	visible
13 Oct	-2.5	20:53:33	10°	WNW	20:56:48	42°	SW	20:57:35	35°	S	visible
14 Oct	-1.3	05:07:28	10°	N	05:07:28	10°	N	05:07:32	10°	N	visible
14 Oct	-3.7	20:04:50	10°	NW	20:08:13	82°	SW	20:11:39	10°	SE	visible
14 Oct	-0.4	21:44:08	10°	SW	21:45:26	12°	SSW	21:45:29	12°	SSW	visible
15 Oct	-0.8	20:54:15	10°	WSW	20:56:36	17°	SSW	20:58:57	10°	SSE	visible
16 Oct	-1.5	20:04:51	10°	W	20:07:47	27°	SW	20:10:46	10°	SSE	visible
18 Oct	-0.6	20:05:55	10°	SW	20:07:26	12°	SSW	20:08:57	10°	S	visible

When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use Heavens Above to get site specific predictions for your location, a small difference in location can mean the difference between the ISS passing over a star or planet or missing it completely.

As always, start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, there may be slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to orbit changes not picked up by the predictions. Use the most recent prediction for your site.

Labels: ISS, Satellite, unaided eye

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:51 pm 0 comments