Astronomy, The Sky and Outer Space

Philip, I know you are there but this applies to all. The ISS (space station) is due to pass over, from sou west to sou east, at 5 past 7 tonight. Should be quite bright. You can see it easy with no bins.

Hi Dreamtime, Hi all I am going to try & give an explanation of terms. We have a picture of our solar system, the sun at the centre & with all of the planets travelling around in well defined paths. In addition, there is also a lot of debris floating around which are given specific names. This debris includes names like comets, asteroids, shooting stars, meteors & meteorites. Whatever their names, they all boil down to pieces of rock or ice which if they come too close to a planet they are likely to either hit it or be diverted by it. I will now try to define each name, but it is not a strict science as there are overlaps in definition. COMETS Comets have fairly defined orbits, which are very elliptical & which extend to the outer edges of our solar system. Their orbits are long & each one is mostly only seen once in our lifetime. When their path comes close to the sun, the sun's heat often breaks them up & they can then become meteors, often the origin of meteor showers. ASTEROIDS Most of these lie between the orbits of Mars & Jupiter. They are sometimes referred to as the minor planets. Being so close to the huge gravitation of the planet Jupiter, this will sometimes catapult them into very odd orbits which can make them become meteors. SHOOTING STARS, METEORS, METEORITES These names are the names that we give to any object that comes into contact with our earth or our atmosphere. Shooting stars & meteors are just the same thing. A meteorite is the name given if the meteor hits the ground,as in the case of the news item in Russia today. I am only an amateur enthusiast, but I will do my best to try & explain what I understand in normal English language. ps. Thank you scrutiny. ps. What will happen tonight? Just before 7.30pm UK time, a 150ft wide chunk of space rock will fly past the Earth, in the closest shave since records began. If it was to hit us, it could wipe out a city the size of London and do as much damage as 1,000 of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima. It has now passed & we are still here. Very sad for the folks injured from the sonic boom over Russia, resulting from the unrelated meteorite falling this morning.

I did not see anything, but I heard a droning sound, was this it or was it a plane?

Hi NormK, I kept watching but saw nothing but cloud. It probably needed bins in order to see it.

Yes Philip. Your star is up there somewhere, so keep on shining. Thank you so much for all the info.

The "ISS" will pass over at 18.55 tonight and again tomorrow at 18.04 and at 19.40. It will be very bright and easily seen even without binoculars, so long as the cloud stays away. With bins you should see the solar panels on it and without you should still be able to see the shape of it. Magnitude -3.9 coming in from the west. Its altitude varies between 205-255 miles high and will be visible for approx 4.40 mins today and 6 mins tomorrow. Times are exact.

Hi Enjoyed Channel 4 documentary this evening, describing the recent meteorite strike. Jokes apart about enrolling for the job of spraying Dulux brilliant white onto a meteorite that is on a collision course with our planet, which was one of the suggestions, I do not think that there is a lot that we can do at present. Please stay safe. Meteorite This is an extract from Wiki : Barwell meteorite This is no hoodwink. Pam & I actually saw the fireball streak across the eastern sky on the Christmas Eve in 1965. We had taken part in a carol concert & were walking in Sewall Highway.

Hi all I have seen the comet in the west sky just after sunset this evening that has been predicted recently. Although it is travelling at high speed, it is not like a shooting star. It is so far away that we only see it as if it was stationary. I eventually found it as a fuzzy patch of light using my bins. I have put this post up as my neighbour was expecting to see a 'fast moving streak thingy' going across the sky. We should be able to see it for a few nights if the sky is clear.

Hi all We have a lunar eclipse this evening, starting here at about 9pm. I have not put it on the events diary, as a clear sky is needed for this & that is not forecasted for this evening. The eclipse, or very partial eclipse only lasts twenty minutes & will only involve a small segment of the moon.

Thank you Philip for letting us know, one day we might be lucky and get a clear sky, I will still look out for it, if it's not too late.

Hi all Did anyone see a very bright meteor last evening at around 9.45pm, travelling South to North in the western sky?

Hi Philip, On the news they say it is part of Halley's Comet. The meteor shower from it was to peak on (or around) the 5th of May, but there are more still to come.

Hi all Get ya' tin hats on again! Giant rock passes earth