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Space Station Size?

Started by drachal, 08/18/2007 11:03AM
Posted 08/18/2007 11:03AM Opening Post
I see these nice shots of the space station that people get through scopes, but just how large is it in the sky in seconds of arc?

I was just thinking about taking a look at it through my scope, and was wondering about what magnification to use?

Darian R.
Posted 08/18/2007 01:39PM #1
If the the ISS is directly overhead I came up with a width of around 45 arc seconds or a little larger than the diameter of Jupiter in the sky. Depending on how the station is oriented the solar panels are quite impressive and each could apear as long as 48 arc seconds. I've been able to track it manually with my 10" dob at up to 115x magnification and it is quite a site. I practice on low flying aircraft pretty often 8)

Joplin