Gregory, SD- Waterloo, IA - Jeffersonville, IN - Site 1
N 43° 13.495 W 099° 25.482
14T E 465509 N 4785879
plainsdrifter358, Iowa Tom and Team Neos sighted the ISS during one pass on 3 January 2007.
Waymark Code: WM13N5
Location: South Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 01/04/2007
Views: 90
At 17:52:22 CST the ISS reached at an altitude of 71° and a magnitude of -1.0 over Gregory, SD. At 17:53:39 CST the ISS reached at an altitude of 67° and a magnitude of -0.6 over Waterloo, IA. At 18:55:23 EST the ISS reached at an altitude of 67° and a magnitude of -0.6 over Jeffersonville, IN.
Gregory, SD is 360 miles from Waterloo, IA. Waterloo is 454 miles from Jeffersonville, IN. The total distance covered was 795 miles!
The time the ISS took to travel the whole distance was only 3 min and 1 sec!
The sky in Gregory was scattered thin haze. The sky in Waterloo was clear. The sky in Jeffersonville was mostly clear.
To memorialize this event, and hopefully to introduce this technology to others, we've placed the ISS Orbit Track and Sighting geocache at the very site from which we observed the ISS Orbit Track for this waymark. We'll also be releasing a TB that will want to visit other such sighting locations.
An interesting exercise, useful even if you have no intention to complete a waymark in this category, is to browse over to
Heavens-Above.com website and determine some high-altitude sighting opportunities of the ISS at your location, then find a spot for watching a satellite at the time specified, and then be there observing the sky in the direction you know the satellite will take. It sure is a lot more fun to pick the time and place to watch one, rather than coincidentally catching one by chance. It can be empowering!
We had some high scattered thin clouds and haze on 3 January 2007 and where naturally concerned whether this satellite crossing would be visible. Well, no worries, mate! The satellite was far brighter than any star so observing it despite weather conditions was easy. We made a waypoint on the GPSr only 3 seconds after the satellite reached its maximum altitude high overhead.
It is far more fun when you get to decide when and where to watch a satellite, and your kids will be far more impressed than the old-fashioned way of a chance sighting on a starry night, and the wondering just what it is you're watching.
For this sighting, we were fortunate it was Full Moon, there was still ample twilight shortly after sunset, and this huge orange Full Moon was rising in the NE. The satellite rose up out of the NW and bisected the sky between Moon and Sun, and then headed ESE on its way over to Waterloo, IA and Jeffersonville, IN where Iowa Tom and Team Neos were waiting. Way cool!