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Satellites over College Park

Although most of the time astronomers are irritated by the number of manmade objects in orbit about our planet, there are times when seeing these satellites is nevertheless fun for the amateur astronomer. Besides, it doesn't take any fancy equipment to actually see many of the satellites. Best of all, you don't have to stay up too late. Satellites are most visible in the hours after sunset or before sunrise.

Sighting opportunities for ISS, the Space Shuttle, and other satellites and their orbital elements can be found at:

• NASA's Shuttle Web
• JTrack and JPass are interesting graphical views of satellite visibility (including ISS, the Shuttle, Hubble, COBE, and others). Really neat if your JAVA works!!!
• Visual Satellite Observer's Home Page (VSHOP) is recommended for learning more about tracking satellites!
• Heavens-Above Main Page includes ISS visibility dates and visibility of Iridium flares for your location if not in
  • College Park, or at
  • Alexandria, VA.

Geostationary/geosynchronous satellites

And then occassionally, satellites come down! For the latest rentry informations, check out www.reentrynews.com/upcoming.html.

Don't know how to read the info at these sites? Then you should come to week 1 of our Learn the Sky Nights program.

Last Updated: Monday December 08, 2008 by Elizabeth Warner