Seeing The Space Station

How to See the Space Station
by South Jersey New Online
Sunday September 21, 2008, 8:10 AM

Keith Johnson

The International Space Station is a large satellite, currently carrying a crew of three human beings, circling the Earth a little over 200 miles up. And you can easily see it in the sky this week.
Keith JohnsonIt doesn't appear in the same place at the same time every night. Some nights we don't see it at all. But starting this week, we'll have some good evening opportunities. The best thing about ISS passes is that you don't need a powerful telescope or 20-20 vision to do the observations: you just need a pair of eyes that work reasonably well.
The ISS looks like a bright star, often much brighter than any true star, drifting across the sky. It appears somewhere in the west, and moves toward some point on the eastern horizon, taking up to five minutes to traverse the sky. Yes, it moves in a direction opposite to the (much slower) motion of the Sun and stars from east to west. That's true of many satellites.

To see the Station, check the schedule below for the starting point of the pass, then for the ending point. Then notice how high up (in degrees above the horizon: remember your plastic protractors?) it will be at its maximum altitude, usually midway between the starting and ending points. This will give you a rough idea of its path across the sky.
Face the initial direction, and imagine how the dot will be moving. It will start out quite faint, because then we're looking mostly at the dark, unilluminated side, so you may not catch it right away. Sweep your eyes back and forth along the expected path until you can pick it out.
It will brighten dramatically as it progresses across the sky, until by the middle of the pass you can't miss it, for these bright events anyway. It will fade out slowly as it continues down toward the predicted ending point, but if you have an unobstructed horizon, you can follow it for a surprising distance.
Here's the schedule for the next few nights for South Jersey. I'm only including the easiest, brightest passes here. If you want to look for the more challenging events, I'll tell you how in a few moments. (See below for explanations of the terms marked with "*").
Sunday, September 21 (tonight!), 7:17-7:23 p.m. The ISS rises in the southwest (SW), moving up and to the left. It will reach its highest position in the sky (its maximum altitude*) a little more than halfway up (53 degrees above the horizon) in the southeast (SE). Finally, it will fade out in the horizon murk in the east-northeast (ENE), as it heads out over the Atlantic. This is quite a bright pass; an astronomer would assign it a magnitude* of -2.1 (yes, less than zero), brighter than any star.
Monday, September 22, 7:44-7:49 p.m. Rises in WSW, moving up and to the right this time; peaks at 40 degrees altitude in NNW; sets NE. Magnitude down to -1.1, which is significantly fainter (yes, fainter: the magnitude scale is upside-down*) than yesterday's pass, but still brighter than any visible star.
Wednesday, September 24, 7:02-7:07. Rises W; peaks a bit lower (36 degrees up) in NNW; sets NE. Magnitude only -0.8: still bright, but nothing like Sunday's appearance.
*Altitude: the apparent angular distance in degrees above the horizon, NOT the distance above the Earth's surface in miles. 0 is at the horizon; 45 degrees is halfway up; 90 is straight overhead, at the zenith.
*Magnitude: a scale of brightness that developed from a system invented centuries ago in ancient Greece. It's a bit different from the scales most of us are used to. For one thing, the smaller the number, the brighter the object. The brightest summer star is at 0 (zero); Jupiter has a magnitude of -2.4; Venus stands at -4. The faintest stars you can see with the unaided eye are at +6. One word of warning: the predictions listed here are usually underestimates, in the sense that the ISS is usually quite a bit brighter than the numbers indicate.
The ISS looks like just a bright dot. But it's actually a multi-room laboratory connected with passages, and sports multiple large solar panels that supply electrical power for life support and experiments. You can find more information about the ISS at www.nasa.gov/station.
The Station has been growing over the years. As a result, it's also been getting brighter, since it shines by reflected sunlight. This sometimes leads to an interesting event. Once in a while, the ISS will pass into the Earth's shadow while it's still some distance above the horizon. It then fades from view over a period of a few seconds. That doesn't happen for the passes listed here, but if you continue watching the station in future passes, you'll undoubtedly witness such a happening.
If you would like to see future predictions, or predictions for other satellites, go to www.heavens-above.com. Heavens Above is a marvelous Web site that will predict the ISS appearances, and many other satellites as well. When a Space Shuttle is in orbit, you can find out where to look for it at Heavens Above. You'll first have to choose your home town--satellite passes differ for different locations--but every city I've ever looked for is in the list, no matter how small. Once you've gotten to the proper page for your location, you can bookmark it in your Web browser.
There are dozens of satellites passing over every night. Most of them are faint enough that they're only visible from a dark location, so the next time you're vacationing in the Poconos or the Pine Barrens, bring along a printout from Heavens Above.
Being able to predict satellite passes offers you the opportunity to impress your friends. A few years ago I was leading a star party in a state park. I knew that, by chance, at a certain time that night, a particular satellite was going to reflect so much light to the ground, right where we'd be standing at the time, that it would momentarily become several times brighter than Venus. These are called Iridium satellites. They're quite spectacular, and you can find out details of their appearances at Heavens Above, too.
A few moments before the event was due to happen, I told my audience that I happened to know there was a UFO mother ship overhead, and that it was due to send a laser beam message down to secret alien agents on Earth. When the Iridium satellite flared up brilliantly for a few seconds, my reputation was made for the evening. (I did eventually explain to everyone what really happened).
State ethics codes force me to remind you that such shenanigans are NOT SUPPORTED by the university at which I'm employed, and your humble writer is not responsible for what might happen if you try this gag yourself. But seeing human-created machines flying overhead, at least one of them with people on board, is impressive and enjoyable, even if you don't use them for reprehensible purposes. Go out the next clear night when the ISS is going over and give it a try!
Astronomy is something anyone can do, to one extent or another. But it's easier to do with a little help. Now showing at the Edelman Planetarium is "The Rowan Universe," a multimedia portrayal of all the different facets of the astronomy program at Rowan University. In this public planetarium show you'll delve into some of the fascinating mysteries of the cosmos being investigated by Rowan astronomers. You'll accompany a class of school children on a dangerous trip into Jupiter's atmosphere. You'll find out why astronomy is one of the most popular science classes at the university.
"The Rowan Universe" plays on Saturdays at 7 p.m. through November 22. Admission fees are $5 for adults, $3 for children under 13, $3 for seniors over 60, and $3 for Rowan students. This show is most enjoyable for children over eight years of age. Come do some astronomy with us!
Also playing at the planetarium is the classic laser show "Laser Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon," on Saturday nights at 8:30 through November 22. Tickets for both shows go on sale at 6:45 p.m. Saturday nights. We do not sell advance tickets or take reservations.
The planetarium is located in the Science Hall on the main Rowan campus, on the north side of Route 322. Campus maps can be found at www.rowan.edu/maps/. More information about the planetarium is available at www.rowan.edu/planetarium/.
Keith Johnson is the director of the Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University. Questions about the night sky and astronomy in general are welcome, as are questions about the planetarium. Call (856) 256-4389, or email him at johnsonk@rowan.edu.
Source: New Jersey Local News

Massive particle collider - First Tests Passed

"My first thought was relief," said Evans, who has been working on the project since its inception in 1984. "This is a machine of enormous complexity. Things can go wrong at any time. But this morning has been a great start."

By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer

GENEVA - The world's largest particle collider passed its first major tests by firing two beams of protons in opposite directions around a 17-mile (27-kilometer) underground ring Wednesday in what scientists hope is the next great step to understanding the makeup of the universe.
After a series of trial runs, two white dots flashed on a computer screen at 10:26 a.m. (0826 GMT) indicating that the protons had traveled clockwise along the full length of the 4 billion Swiss franc (US$3.8 billion) Large Hadron Collider — described as the biggest physics experiment in history.
"There it is," project leader Lyn Evans said when the beam completed its lap.
Champagne corks popped in labs as far away as Chicago, where contributing and competing scientists watched the proceedings by satellite.
Five hours later, scientists successfully fired a beam counterclockwise.
Physicists around the world now have much greater power to smash the components of atoms together in attempts to learn about their structure.
"Well done, everybody," said Robert Aymar, director-general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, to cheers from the assembled scientists in the collider's control room at the Swiss-French border.
The organization, known by its French acronym CERN, began firing the protons — a type of subatomic particle — around the tunnel in stages less than an hour earlier, with the first beam injection at 9:35 a.m. (0735 GMT).
Eventually two beams will be fired at the same time in opposite directions with the aim of recreating conditions a split second after the big bang, which scientists theorize was the massive explosion that created the universe.
"My first thought was relief," said Evans, who has been working on the project since its inception in 1984. "This is a machine of enormous complexity. Things can go wrong at any time. But this morning has been a great start."
He didn't want to set a date, but said that he expected scientists would be able to conduct collisions for their experiments "within a few months."
The collider is designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around the tunnel.
Scientists hope to eventually send two beams of protons through two tubes about the width of fire hoses, speeding through a vacuum that is colder and emptier than outer space. The paths of these beams will cross, and a few protons will collide. The collider's two largest detectors — essentially huge digital cameras weighing thousands of tons — are capable of taking millions of snapshots a second.
The CERN experiments could reveal more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time. It could also find evidence of the hypothetical particle — the Higgs boson — which is sometimes called the "God particle" because it is believed to give mass to all other particles, and thus to matter that makes up the universe.
The supercooled magnets that guide the proton beam heated slightly in the morning's first test, leading to a pause to recool them before trying the opposite direction.
The start of the collider came over the objections of some who feared the collision of protons could eventually imperil the Earth by creating micro-black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars.
"It's nonsense," said James Gillies, chief spokesman for CERN.
CERN was backed by leading scientists like Britain's Stephen Hawking , who declared the experiments to be absolutely safe.
Gillies told the AP that the most dangerous thing that could happen would be if a beam at full power were to go out of control, and that would only damage the accelerator itself and burrow into the rock around the tunnel.
Nothing of the sort occurred Wednesday, though the accelerator is still probably a year away from full power.
The project organized by the 20 European member nations of CERN has attracted researchers from 80 nations. Some 1,200 are from the United States, an observer country that contributed US$531 million. Japan, another observer, also is a major contributor.
Some scientists have been waiting for 20 years to use the LHC.
The complexity of manufacturing it required groundbreaking advances in the use of supercooled, superconducting equipment. The 2001 start and 2005 completion dates were pushed back by two years each, and the cost of the construction was 25 percent higher than originally budgeted in 1996, Luciano Maiani, who was CERN director-general at the time, told The Associated Press.
Maiani and the other three living former directors-general attended the launch Wednesday.
Smaller colliders have been used for decades to study the makeup of the atom. Less than 100 years ago scientists thought protons and neutrons were the smallest components of an atom's nucleus, but in stages since then experiments have shown they were made of still smaller quarks and gluons and that there were other forces and particles.

Source Yahoo News
Pointed out to me by Alien Contactee

Homemade 400mm Binocular Scope

A big Keanu "whoa!" for this 400mm binoscope (binocular telescope) being built by an enterprising Frenchman. He's spent three years on it so far. It's not done, but it is operational. The engineering on this is gorgeous. The carriage system is almost as cool as the scope itself! There's only one other video on YouTube, of him grinding the 400mm mirrors.

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