If the weather is clear tonight, you may catch the Hubble Space Telescope passing almost directly overhead.
It will rise in the west at 8:31 p.m., but until it rises up above 10° at 8:33:23 (23 seconds after 8:33 p.m.), the HSP will be hard to see. This is for several reasons.
Firstly, it is just hard to see things close to the horizon. In most places you are surrounded by buildings and trees that obscure the lowest part of the sky.
Secondly, just as the Sun and Moon are reddened and dimmed near the horizon, so is a satellite. Air pollution and haze are particularly bad in the lower sky, though you may not notice it without something to look at, such as the rising Moon or a satellite. Our line-of-sight passes through forty times as much air when looking at the horizon as it does when looking at the zenith.
Thirdly, the illumination of the satellite comes from the Sun. The crescent moon is much dimmer than the full moon. So, also, a satellite on the western horizon just after sunset presents only a slim fraction of its sunlight surface to us, because of the narrow angle between the satellite and the Sun.
Unlike our natural satellite, the Moon, artificial satellites often have flat surfaces, such as solar panels, which can reflect a concentrated beam of light. This is perceived on the ground as a flare or glint. The iridium constellation of satellites is famous for their flares caused by beams of sunlight reflected from their door-sized antennas. They are famous because the iridium satellites hold such a precise orbit and position that the ground track of the beam can be predicted with high accuracy.
The Hubble Space Telescope has large solar panels which can cause a glint, but HST does not hold to a predictable schedule like the iridium satellites. You just have to get lucky to see a Hubble glint. But you will never see one if you aren’t looking, right?
The Hubble rises in the west, but how do you find west? Many cities have streets running on a grid aligned to east and west, north and south. But many residential areas prefer to let the Drives and Traces meander around. So use the stars and planets as your guide.
You probably heard about the Big Dipper and the Pole Star as a child. These signposts are visible tonight (weather permitting). The Dipper lies rather low, and the pointer stars at the end of the bowl have to point up towards Polaris, in the north.
But there are two brighter beacons you can use to find west. The planet Jupiter is the brightest celestial object in the sky (no Moon at 8:30 p.m.). Jupiter is quite low in the sky about 15 degrees to the left (south) of west. Look above and to the right to see the bright star Arcturus. The Hubble Space Telescope will be passing very close to Arcturus between 8:35 and 8:36. By then the Hubble will be fairly bright, but not as bright as either Arcturus or Jupiter, so watch closely.
The Hubble will rise to a very high altitude tonight, only six degrees from the zenith, practically overhead. This occurs between 8:37 and 8:38 p.m. Then the satellite descends into the east where it is eclipsed by the earth’s own shadow while still 26° above the horizon.
Happy hunting.
Here is the tentative schedule for the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium for the coming week. Because of Hurricane Irma, the planetarium is closed this weekend. Call 321-433-7373 for the latest show information.
Closed due to Hurricane Irma until Wednesday
Wednesday, Sept. 13
- 2:00 p.m. Firefall – New! (HD)
- 3:15 p.m.: The Living Sea (IMAX movie)
Friday, Sept. 15
- 7:00 p.m.: Rosetta — New! HD
- 8:15 p.m.: Solar Max (IMAX movie)
- 9:00 p.m.: U2 (Laser)
Saturday, Sept. 16
- 7:00 p.m.: Back to the Moon for Good — New! HD
- 8:15 p.m.: Whales (IMAX movie)
- 9:00 p.m.: Beatles (Laser)
Check the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium schedule at http://ift.tt/2vQKKhW for hours of operation and show descriptions.
The EFSC observatory is normally open to the public on weekends from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights.
Badger is Project Coordinator at the Eastern Florida State College Planetarium in Cocoa. Send questions, suggestions, or comments to badgerb@easternflorida.edu.
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