Shuttle & Mir tonight...
Jim Scotti (jscotti@LPL.Arizona.EDU)
Thu, 29 Jan 1998 19:39:49 -0700 (MST)
I just got to see a very nice pass of Endeavour and Mir tonight from Kitt
Peak. Endeavour was leading Mir by about 25-30 degrees at culmination at
an altitude of about 40 degrees and was about 2 magnitudes brighter to
boot. Mir was clearly more yellow or red than the shuttle while Endeavour
peaked at about magnitude -2 as it moved through Orion, just below the
Orion nebula from my vantage point, followed moments later by Mir just
above the Orion nebula. Mir brightened briefly up to about -1 just before
it entered the Earth's shadow. Watching both in turn go into sunset was
very nice in my trusty 10x50s. They turned a deep red and then slowly
faded out, much like the ballplayers in Field of Dreams as they walked
into the cornfield. I could just see each very faintly for quite some
distance into the dark.
Jim.
Jim Scotti
Lunar & Planetary Laboratory jscotti@lpl.arizona.edu
University of Arizona 520/621-2717
Tucson, AZ 85721 USA http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/