* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: UARS satellite re-entry

Date: Sep 23 23:17 2011

I leave near East Midland Airport and at the time when the satellite passed I could compere it with a passing aiplane too. It is much bigger a bit faster and the light was redish. It did not flash.

Blobrana · L

@Anonymous

The UARS satellite is predicted to re-enter the Earths atmosphere on the 24th September, 2011 @ 03:34 GMT ± 9 hours.

UARS
1 21701U 91063B   11266.68416083  .05810473  11658-4  30193-3 0  6351
2 21701 056.9386 264.3144 0003833 344.9700 015.1773 16.42698186109115

Period:       87.82 minutes
Inclination: 56.93°
Apogee:     170 km
Perigee:     163 km
Revolution Number: 10920
Predicted Location: 36°S, 54.8°E

Date: Sep 23 23:08 2011

Blobrana wrote:
It will move like a silent plane (a bit faster than the ISS). It should be bright enough to see from a city by eye (as bright as the constellation stars, occasionally flashing to magnitude -3)

Sorry for the double post!

So will the UARS slowly get closer to the Earth? Because I've been watching it on this website: http://www.n2yo.com/?s=21701 and it just stays between 150 and 170 km altitude?

And do we have any idea on when it will hit? Every website seems to use a different timezone and it's confusing me xD

Thanks for the help :)

Date: Sep 23 23:04 2011

I was outside too between 00.17-00.46 in the Netherlands. Didnt see it. It should look like a shining ovalshaped thing with changes in its lightdensity probably caused by the chaotic spinning.

Blobrana · L

It will move like a silent plane (a bit faster than the ISS). It should be bright enough to see from a city by eye (as bright as the constellation stars, occasionally flashing to magnitude -3)

Date: Sep 23 23:01 2011

I live in the Netherlands, and at about 00:30 local time (half an hour ago) I stood outside and looked to the north, but I couldnt really see anything?

Though I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for, what does it look like with the naked eye? An airplane? A star? Is it bright and does it move really fast? How far above the horizon would it be?

Thank for the help!! Really wanna see this :D

Date: Sep 23 22:58 2011

I stood outside at approx 00:30, in Netherlands, and looked towards the north, but I didn't see anything?

Not really sure what to expect though, will it look like an airplane? Is it very bright?

Date: Sep 23 22:56 2011

Yep, I've seen it over East Midlands at 23:36.

Blobrana · L

@Nancy

No light show for you unfortunatly...

(there is a slim chance that someone in Florida may see it at the very end of the predicted decay time period)