[Sca-cooks] OOP, OT, Lunar Eclipse and International Space Station tonight

[Mary Denise Smith]

Greetings Listers,

Since our ancestors were avid sky watchers, I do hope that this posting
will not be as hopelessly off topic as it may otherwise seem.

May your skies be clear tonight,

MD/Marged
Outlands


> Space Weather News for May 15, 2003
> http://spaceweather.com
>
> Sky watchers in the Americas, Europe, Africa and parts of Asia can see a
> sunset-red lunar eclipse tonight, May 15th and 16th. Today's edition of
> spaceweather.com describes a few more things that will appear in the sky
> around the time of the eclipse: Iridium flares and a transit of the Moon
> by the International Space Station.
>
> IRIDIUM FLARES: Sky watchers in the western and central United States are
> favored to see some pleasing Iridium flares during tonight's lunar
> eclipse. "Some cities that will have decent flares are Phoenix, Salt Lake
> City, El Paso, Minneapolis, Omaha and Missoula," says space scientist Rob
> Matson of SAIC, who also forecasts Iridium flares for the International
> Space Station. Most of tonight's flares will appear higher in the sky than
> the moon. "With a wide field of view camera, however, it may be possible
> to capture a flare and the moon in the same field of view," notes Matson.
>
> SPACE STATION TRANSIT: This is for advanced observers. Along a narrow path
> stretching from Dallas through St. Louis to Chicago, sky watchers can see
> the International Space Station pass in front of the eclipsed moon
> tonight. Like the moon itself, the ISS will be inside Earth's shadow, so
> it will be dark--a ghostly silhouette racing across the dimly-lit lunar
> terrain in less than a second. You have to be at the right place at the
> right time to see it. Forecaster Thomas Fly has prepared maps and
> timetables for the central United States and other places where these
> transits may be visible.
>
> Visit <http://spaceweather.com> for more information..