HST in a bright sky

[kt4hx]

As many of you may know, I am currently away from home on a business trip. Unfortunately I am right in the middle of a very bright red zone with no ability to get away because of work requirements. Though I am at around 18° north I didn’t bring any optical aid save my 10x50 binoculars just in case some sort of opportunity might present itself.

At this latitude the Hubble Space Telescope tends to be more visible than at home due to the nature of its orbit. It has been a while since I’d seen it so I checked Heaven’s Above and found I had a good apparition (80° elevation at peak) here prior to sunrise on the 11th of February. So I took my binoculars to work and stepped out about five minutes before hand. Biding my time by studying the field between Leo and Ursa Major where I should pick it up, I located it around the appointed time and followed it as it moved from the NNW toward the SSE.

It was moving toward Bootes, where Arcturus was almost 8° west of my zenith. I could see it naked eye as it brightened to zero magnitude, but with the moon nearby and my ultra-bright sky, it was not amazingly bright without the binoculars. I kept following its motion and witnessed it pass just shy of 5’ north of Rho Bootis and then just over 2° north of Epsilon Boo. I followed it toward the ESE until it was lost in the trees.

Though I don’t get much opportunity to see anything substantive here, it was a nice diversion to my nights work to observe the HST passing nearly overhead.
Not much of a report I'm afraid, but it was fun while it lasted! I shall keep watch for it again as I have several good opportunities over the coming days. The HST actually presents more frequent viewings than does the ISS for the coming days. But even though it’s not deep observing like I typically do at home, it at least gets me out under a bright sky to stretch my legs and look upward. The below image was made using Stellarium showing the passage north of Rho Boo that I witnessed. Thanks for reading my meager effort and good luck with your observing.

[bladekeeper]

Glad you could get out for a bit and look up, Alan! HST is a fun spot if latitude allows. I've got it only once but wasn't necessarily looking for it at the time.

Solid clouds here so if I spot the HST I'd probably better hunker down.

[kt4hx]

Glad you could get out for a bit and look up, Alan! HST is a fun spot if latitude allows. I've got it only once but wasn't necessarily looking for it at the time.

Solid clouds here so if I spot the HST I'd probably better hunker down.

At least it was something! I can see 1st and 2nd mag stars, but not much else naked eye. It is abysmal! Even worse with the nite lite! Sirius and Canopus are easy enough as are the normal ones we are used to this time of year. But its a tough environment to be in sky-wise!

Yes, if you see something shiny with large solar panels coming your way, I'd head for the basement!

[terrynak]

Sorry to hear that you are in a more southerly latitude with clear skies but cannot get out of the urban conditions Alan. My biggest problem on my Down Under trips with scope was inclement weather. I'd be happy just being somewhere at least 8 degrees further south than where I am now (34 deg), if I'm guaranteed clear skies away from the city (e.g. rural area outside of Honolulu or Miami). Southerly deep sky objects fascinate me, because few amateur astronomers in N. America and Europe ever get a chance to see the showpiece objects that Dunlop and J. Herschel saw.

Anyways, cool that you were able to see and follow the HST.

[kt4hx]

Sorry to hear that you are in a more southerly latitude with clear skies but cannot get out of the urban conditions Alan. My biggest problem on my Down Under trips with scope was inclement weather. I'd be happy just being somewhere at least 8 degrees further south than where I am now (34 deg), if I'm guaranteed clear skies away from the city (e.g. rural area outside of Honolulu or Miami). Southerly deep sky objects fascinate me, because few amateur astronomers in N. America and Europe ever get a chance to see the showpiece objects that Dunlop and J. Herschel saw.

Anyways, cool that you were able to see and follow the HST.

Thanks Terry. Yeah, its that old saying about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. We northerners always pine for a peak over our southern horizon. Fortunately you and I have had some opportunities, though not always under the best of conditions or perhaps with the aperture we would have rather had. I will say, we have an awfully lot of good stuff available to us at the mid-northern lats, but there is really something special about many objects I have had the opportunity to see from farther south during my trips. There are still others that I have not seen and would really like a shot at. Whether I will get those opportunities or finally get the chance to snag a DSO in my final constellation Mensa, I don't know. I've seen stars in it, just not a DSO yet. So I am stuck on 87 at this point!

[helicon]

Never seen it. Pretty cool Alan.

[terrynak]

Sorry to hear that you are in a more southerly latitude with clear skies but cannot get out of the urban conditions Alan. My biggest problem on my Down Under trips with scope was inclement weather. I'd be happy just being somewhere at least 8 degrees further south than where I am now (34 deg), if I'm guaranteed clear skies away from the city (e.g. rural area outside of Honolulu or Miami). Southerly deep sky objects fascinate me, because few amateur astronomers in N. America and Europe ever get a chance to see the showpiece objects that Dunlop and J. Herschel saw.

Anyways, cool that you were able to see and follow the HST.

Thanks Terry. Yeah, its that old saying about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. We northerners always pine for a peak over our southern horizon. Fortunately you and I have had some opportunities, though not always under the best of conditions or perhaps with the aperture we would have rather had. I will say, we have an awfully lot of good stuff available to us at the mid-northern lats, but there is really something special about many objects I have had the opportunity to see from farther south during my trips. There are still others that I have not seen and would really like a shot at. Whether I will get those opportunities or finally get the chance to snag a DSO in my final constellation Mensa, I don't know. I've seen stars in it, just not a DSO yet. So I am stuck on 87 at this point!

I'm assuming you mean 87 objects from the AF Southern Sky List. I'm at 77. It's too bad that out of the 12 galaxies I saw in Reticulum/Dorado on my last trip Down Under, only one of them was on that list.

[kt4hx]

Sorry to hear that you are in a more southerly latitude with clear skies but cannot get out of the urban conditions Alan. My biggest problem on my Down Under trips with scope was inclement weather. I'd be happy just being somewhere at least 8 degrees further south than where I am now (34 deg), if I'm guaranteed clear skies away from the city (e.g. rural area outside of Honolulu or Miami). Southerly deep sky objects fascinate me, because few amateur astronomers in N. America and Europe ever get a chance to see the showpiece objects that Dunlop and J. Herschel saw.

Anyways, cool that you were able to see and follow the HST.

Thanks Terry. Yeah, its that old saying about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. We northerners always pine for a peak over our southern horizon. Fortunately you and I have had some opportunities, though not always under the best of conditions or perhaps with the aperture we would have rather had. I will say, we have an awfully lot of good stuff available to us at the mid-northern lats, but there is really something special about many objects I have had the opportunity to see from farther south during my trips. There are still others that I have not seen and would really like a shot at. Whether I will get those opportunities or finally get the chance to snag a DSO in my final constellation Mensa, I don't know. I've seen stars in it, just not a DSO yet. So I am stuck on 87 at this point!

I'm assuming you mean 87 objects from the AF Southern Sky List. I'm at 77. It's too bad that out of the 12 galaxies I saw in Reticulum/Dorado on my last trip Down Under, only one of them was on that list.

Actually I am referring to constellations. I have observed DSOs in 87 of the 88 constellations, with Mensa the lone holdout. As I mentioned I have seen stars in the constellation, just no DSOs yet. Where I have traveled it does not rise very high and I have tree and light issues at those locations so its been tough.

As for the Southern Award list we have at AF, I have logged 95 of the 110 objects to this point.

[kt4hx]

Never seen it. Pretty cool Alan.

Thanks Michael. I plan to try for a few other satellites that I feel might be doable in these skies with the binoculars. One I have always wanted to spot is the North Korean one. It is difficult from the US and then likely only the west coast. The brightest it gets here is about mag 6.6, so will give it a shot at its best apparitions.

[terrynak]

Actually I am referring to constellations. I have observed DSOs in 87 of the 88 constellations, with Mensa the lone holdout. As I mentioned I have seen stars in the constellation, just no DSOs yet. Where I have traveled it does not rise very high and I have tree and light issues at those locations so its been tough.

As for the Southern Award list we have at AF, I have logged 95 of the 110 objects to this point.

Oh, I see. Interesting to note that there are no DSOs listed in Mensa on the AF Southern Sky Challenge List.

Ninety-five out of 110 on that list is awesome. I know that Andrey (Bigzmey) has 76-77 objects logged as well, like me.

[kt4hx]

Actually I am referring to constellations. I have observed DSOs in 87 of the 88 constellations, with Mensa the lone holdout. As I mentioned I have seen stars in the constellation, just no DSOs yet. Where I have traveled it does not rise very high and I have tree and light issues at those locations so its been tough.

As for the Southern Award list we have at AF, I have logged 95 of the 110 objects to this point.

Oh, I see. Interesting to note that there are no DSOs listed in Mensa on the AF Southern Sky Challenge List.

Ninety-five out of 110 on that list is awesome. I know that Andrey (Bigzmey) has 76-77 objects logged as well, like me.

There are DSOs in Mensa,just no showpieces. The LMC is partially located within northern Mensa, but the brightest features are located in Dorado. There are some open and globular clusters associated with the LMC in Mensa, some faint galaxies and planetaries. The one object I was looking for is the asterism Streicher 29, but couldn't pin it down before I lost the field in the trees. I hope to get another shot at it and some other objects there one day to complete my goal of logging a DSO in every constellation. At this point all I can claim is to have seen some stars in every constellation!

I think there are at least a couple more on the southern list that I should be able to pick up at our dark site as they do rise above the southern horizon. But I need to check that to be certain. During a couple of trips I was looking right at the LMC but could not discern it as such, though I easily spotted NGC 2070 within it. The galaxy however was simply overwhelmed by the local LP. I've never had the chance to see the SMC yet though I did log Tuc 47. But it was way down in the much and bright enough to push through the haze, but the SMC was not.

[prowler75]

Neat little target. I’ve seen it go by overhead a few times, but not when I had any glass to take a closer look.
Good to hear that you are able squeeze in some kind of observing on your business trip!

[Bigzmey]

Nice catch Alan! I don't believe I ever saw it. Need to fix that.

[Juno16]

Hi Alan,

Too bad that you couldn't go to the New Mexico desert for a business trip! I know, it doesn't usually work that way.

You are making the best of it though in tough conditions. Shame the sky is so light polluted.

The HST is a nice catch though! Spotting satellites and space debris is what actually got me started observing. I used to go outside after dusk and get up before dawn and log sightings. I had so much fun, I bought a scope!

[Don Quixote]

Thank you Alan for the report.
I would look for this, but...clouds and rain/snow here. Blah !

[kt4hx]

Neat little target. I’ve seen it go by overhead a few times, but not when I had any glass to take a closer look.
Good to hear that you are able squeeze in some kind of observing on your business trip!

Thanks Craig. Generally speaking I am too busy with other stuff when observing at home to take notice of the satellites. But it gives me something to do here.

Nice catch Alan! I don't believe I ever saw it. Need to fix that.

Thanks Andrey. Yeah, you should give it a shot and also since you're on the west coast, check into the North Korean satellite as well. Its sort of a novelty.

Hi Alan,

Too bad that you couldn't go to the New Mexico desert for a business trip! I know, it doesn't usually work that way.

You are making the best of it though in tough conditions. Shame the sky is so light polluted.

The HST is a nice catch though! Spotting satellites and space debris is what actually got me started observing. I used to go outside after dusk and get up before dawn and log sightings. I had so much fun, I bought a scope!

Unfortunately I've got no business in New Mexico to pursue! Mine is always outside the country and not always conducive to observing, though I have gotten some chances from closer to the equator and even just a hair south of it. Not this time though. The conditions are horrid.

I actually saw the HST again this morning around the same time frame, but this time it passed through south of Arcturus. I also picked up Starlink 61, which peaked at about mag 3.6 at an elevation of 72°. It passed through less than a minute before I picked up the HST. Unfortunately my southeast is blocked by trees because the HST passed very close to Jupiter, but I couldn't even see the planet due to blockage.

Thank you Alan for the report.
I would look for this, but...clouds and rain/snow here. Blah !

Thanks Mark. Yeah, that is the bane of us all at some point. Some times more often than not!

[terrynak]

Oh, I see. Interesting to note that there are no DSOs listed in Mensa on the AF Southern Sky Challenge List.

Ninety-five out of 110 on that list is awesome. I know that Andrey (Bigzmey) has 76-77 objects logged as well, like me.

There are DSOs in Mensa,just no showpieces. The LMC is partially located within northern Mensa, but the brightest features are located in Dorado. There are some open and globular clusters associated with the LMC in Mensa, some faint galaxies and planetaries. The one object I was looking for is the asterism Streicher 29, but couldn't pin it down before I lost the field in the trees. I hope to get another shot at it and some other objects there one day to complete my goal of logging a DSO in every constellation. At this point all I can claim is to have seen some stars in every constellation!

I think there are at least a couple more on the southern list that I should be able to pick up at our dark site as they do rise above the southern horizon. But I need to check that to be certain. During a couple of trips I was looking right at the LMC but could not discern it as such, though I easily spotted NGC 2070 within it. The galaxy however was simply overwhelmed by the local LP. I've never had the chance to see the SMC yet though I did log Tuc 47. But it was way down in the much and bright enough to push through the haze, but the SMC was not.

Just checked, haven't logged any DSOs in Mensa myself. I see Streicher 29 in the IDSA - one 9th mag. star plotted, so that would be an accessible target in a red zone.

I'm looking at about 10 or so DSOs in the AF SSC List that I could probably log locally outside of town with an unobstructed southern horizon. Andrey did a magnificent job getting nearly all of his objects on the list from Anza Borrego, with a 9" SCT. My next out of town trip (orange zone) is this weekend, so I'll need to prepare my list of "new" targets (mostly asterisms, some OCs), whether they are in the southern sky or not.

[kt4hx]

Oh, I see. Interesting to note that there are no DSOs listed in Mensa on the AF Southern Sky Challenge List.

Ninety-five out of 110 on that list is awesome. I know that Andrey (Bigzmey) has 76-77 objects logged as well, like me.

There are DSOs in Mensa,just no showpieces. The LMC is partially located within northern Mensa, but the brightest features are located in Dorado. There are some open and globular clusters associated with the LMC in Mensa, some faint galaxies and planetaries. The one object I was looking for is the asterism Streicher 29, but couldn't pin it down before I lost the field in the trees. I hope to get another shot at it and some other objects there one day to complete my goal of logging a DSO in every constellation. At this point all I can claim is to have seen some stars in every constellation!

I think there are at least a couple more on the southern list that I should be able to pick up at our dark site as they do rise above the southern horizon. But I need to check that to be certain. During a couple of trips I was looking right at the LMC but could not discern it as such, though I easily spotted NGC 2070 within it. The galaxy however was simply overwhelmed by the local LP. I've never had the chance to see the SMC yet though I did log Tuc 47. But it was way down in the much and bright enough to push through the haze, but the SMC was not.

Just checked, haven't logged any DSOs in Mensa myself. I see Streicher 29 in the IDSA - one 9th mag. star plotted, so that would be an accessible target in a red zone.

I'm looking at about 10 or so DSOs in the AF SSC List that I could probably log locally outside of town with an unobstructed southern horizon. Andrey did a magnificent job getting nearly all of his objects on the list from Anza Borrego, with a 9" SCT. My next out of town trip (orange zone) is this weekend, so I'll need to prepare my list of "new" targets (mostly asterisms, some OCs), whether they are in the southern sky or not.

I am quite sure I would have gotten Streicher 29 had the trees not limited by viewing. I think I was close, but simply could not identify the field with the narrow window I had. At about 5S latitude, Mensa does not put on a great show overall. Combine that with the trees, well it was tough.

Good luck with your southern sky adventure this weekend, and its really nice to see you active again.