It was the morning of the 4th, a little after 6 oclock, the light of dawn hadn’t arrived yet. For the most part, the neighborhood was dark and quiet. My neighbor’s porch light did intrude a bit but I could work around it. There was no moon in the sky making it appear even darker.
I had gotten up early to watch two space stations pass over my house. Who would have imagined doing this 50 or 60 years ago? Science fiction HAS come true!
(No comment needed!)
Finding a spot that was shielded from the obtrusive porch light next door, I familiarized myself with the stars above. The camera was set up with hopes of getting a couple shots as the stations passed bright stars. Then, all that needed to be done was to wait and enjoy the silence.
Tiangong passing towards the left (East)
under Arctures
The first to appear was the Chinese space station Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace”. It came over the trees right at the scheduled time. Presently there are three astronauts on board this structure. Watching as it got higher in the sky, I was startled by a woman walking her dog. I pointed to the satellite and told her what it was, she simply said “cool” and continued her walk. I'm guessing she wasn't impressed.
Nearing the end of its passage across the sky, off in a different direction the International Space Station (ISS) had appeared behind some other trees. For a brief while I could see both space stations in the sky at the same time! While it might not excite others, I found this fascinating!
I swiveled my camera around to catch the ISS and when I looked up, I saw a bright object beside Polaris. (The North Star) As I watched, it proceeded to get brighter. I pushed the shutter on the camera and when I looked back up, the object had disappeared.
The ISS passing over Polaris, heading
towards the right (East)
Once the ISS had completed its pass, I went inside (into the warmth!) to see if I had caught the flare. The pictures came out nicely, the ISS appearing much brighter than Tiangong since it is a bigger structure. (There are seven crewmen from different countries on the ISS presently.) Someday I'll get a picture with both of them in the same shot!
As far as the flare goes, I can only guess to what it was. It reminded me of an Iridium Flare. Years ago, there was a fleet of satellites that were shaped in a way that caused bright flares to appear as the sunlight shined on them. If you happened to be in the proper spot at the proper time, you could see them. They were fun to point out to people at star parties.
There had also been a meteor shower that peaked the day before. It could’ve been one of them. I failed to notice which direction it was coming from, it appeared to be coming straight towards me. There was also a report of a possible meteor exploding over the Western Pennsylvania area on New Year’s Day…could it have been something related to that?
Whatever it was, it made for an exciting morning! I always find it rewarding to see things in the sky, or elsewhere, that I wasn’t expecting.
I had planned on going back inside and slipping back under the covers but this changed everything. I had to see how the pictures came out and to check a few web sites to see if any other bright satellites were in the sky at that time. I found nothing on-line, so I’m leaning towards a flare from a random satellite. There are thousands of objects floating around up there…who knows?
ISS to the left in the trees, the flare and
Polaris, all in line
(6:30:42AM EST)
A couple of satellites, a flare, a good cup of coffee and a bit of research, yup, this day was off to a great start!
1 comment:
I should have been outside.
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