On the 31st August 2009, we had a reasonably high and bright ISS pass, as the space station passed at about 60° altitude and reaching -2.8 apparent magnitude.

Unfortunately the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-128) was still on its way to the ISS and had not yet docked. The Space Shuttle actually passed overhead about 8 minutes before the ISS, but they happened very early in the evening and the sky was still blue so I couldn’t spot the shuttle pass.

8 minutes later, the sky was dark enough and the ISS bright enough for me to be able to spot the pass. It came from the SW through to the NE passing through NW, which means trees in my backyard. So I couldn’t get it in my finderscope until it had passed its maximum altitude.

International Space Station, 31st August 2009

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Hi all

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had any news or images to post – sorry about that. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks both at work and at home.

Work has been flat out, as I’ve taken on new responsibilities since a colleague resigned, and trying to come up to speed with all the work he was doing and managing new staff has been very time consuming.

And at home, it’s been a very mixed bag. Unfortunately my Nan passed away last week (she was 82), and we had her funeral on Friday. So it was a very sad week.

My Nan on her wedding day (centre)

My Nan about 2 years ago

Dealing with all of that has meant I just haven’t been in the right head-space for astronomy. My motivation is at an almost all-time low at the moment. The last 3 weeks has seen fairly reasonable weather, probably with 10 or more clear nights, but I haven’t been outside once.

The consistent terrible seeing from earlier in the year has tainted me and I just have no confidence that seeing conditions will be good. I need to find some enjoyment in astronomy again, getting together with friends and just having fun.

Hopefully IISAC2009 will be a turning point. Only 5 weeks to go, so not long to wait! I need to finish organising it!

Thanks for being patient – hopefully I’ll have some new images to post soon.