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dtewes - > Sky Watch -> Nature's own July 4 show
Nature's own July 4 show
   If we can get a clear sky, there will be two shows over Victoria on July 4.
   One, of course, will be the city’s annual fireworks display at the Victoria Community Center. The other is a parade of planets visible to the unaided eye.
   Red Mars and ringed Saturn converge just to the left of the bright star Regulus, according to the science.nasa.gov Web site. Click on this link for a sky map.
   But that is just the beginning, according to the Web site. On Saturday, July 5, a crescent moon joins the show. Saturn, Mars, and the moon trace an even brighter line than the night before: sky map.
Tags: NASA, July 4, Mars, Saturn, moon, fireworks
posted by dtewes on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 11:39 AM
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posted by CG23Sailor on Jul 2, 2008 at 06:03 PM
Clouds and weather permiting, there will be a show tonight as well. At 9:26pm tonight, from Victoria, look to the North Northwest (345 degrees compass) and about 18 degrees above the horizon. The huge solar panels of the Iridium 96 communications sattelite will catch the suns rays and act as a huge mirror creating a massive flare effect. A few minutes later,at 9:33pm,  Iridium 28 will make its pass in almost the exact same point in the sky (somewhat less bright but still very bright for a sattelite. the first pass should be a -6 magnitude followed by a -3 magnitude for Iridium 28. for those who dont know Magnitudes, Venus at its very brightest (oft mistaken for a UFO) is a -4, the Full moon is a -12 and the noon sun is a whopping -26.   Later in the week there is a -8 pass (the brightest these sattelites get) This is only for Victoria, just a few miles difference, can alter the brightness of these objects as what we are seeing  is the same thing as if someone took a mirror and aimed the spot of sunlight off of it and flased it into the eyes of someone else. only in this case the mirror is in spoace and we are standing waaayyy down here on Earth this spot is only a couple miles across and if you are not at its center, the brightness fades. Exact details of the two passes tonight (calculated for my house in near the exact center of Victoria) Iridium 94 TIME       &nb sp;       &nbs p; 21:26:33 (9:26 pm and 33 seconds) MAGNITUDE   -6 ALTITUDE       18 degrees AZIMUTH          345 degrees Iridium 28 TIME       &nb sp;       &nbs p;  21:33:24 MAGNITUDE    -3 ALTITUDE       16 Degrees AZIMUTH          345 Degrees Go here to learn more http://www.heavens-above.co...
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