Hi, I've just joined the list and would like to introduce myself! I'm a 17-year-old amateur astronomer living in Kronberg, Germany (very light-polluted and especially cloudy). My interest in satellite observing began when I found a note on the Internet about 1 1/2 years ago on observing Iridium flares. For weeks, I printed out the pass predictions from Heavens-Above (which still had a different name at that time) and tried to see one of the flaring satellites, but always failed due to the long periods of cloud and rain we tend to have here in Europe. Then finally, one day, I saw one of the amazing flares. It was one of the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen, and since then, I've tried seeing everything possible that flies above us in space. Most of the time, I try photographing what I see in order to keep a record for myself (I've photographed quite a few Iridium flares and even two geostationary satellites, the latter of which I have never observed visually because my 114mm scope won't show these faint satellites). I hope to learn lots from this list as well as get tips on what to look out for. I would have assumed I could see the shuttle and ISS again now, but Heavens-Above showed *no passes* for the next 10 days! I guess I'll have to wait until the next mission to see them together again. I have seen them together once before, reaching mag -3 - an amazing sight! The two flying 20 degrees apart after their separation was great, too! Clear skies, Ulrich ______________________________________________________________ Ulrich Beinert http://www.analemma.de Eichenstr. 31 mailto:ulrich@analemma.de D-61476 Kronberg Tel.: (+49) 6173-4690 (+49) 6173-703529 GERMANY 50*10'49.2"N 08*30'20.4"E 260 meters ______________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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