Satellite predictions

[Rick]

I've (I hope) set up an automatic job to generate a few days' worth of satellite predictions like the ones I sometimes remember to bring to observing evenings and put them on the website at http://www.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/predictions.txt

It's a raw text file as that's easier to lay out and print (provided you use a fixed-width font....)

Let me know if it's any use.

[Rick]

Curiously I had a call from a stranger who'd got my number from the library. She says she used to listen to a programme on Radio Kent which used to give out ISS predictions. The programme is now off the air, and she was wondering whether I knew where she could get predictions from. The catch was she didn't have access to the Net....

Any ideas?

[Ian]

put them up in the website then call her and read them to her?

(sorry, I have no real suggestion. Empty vessel, more noise....)

[Rick]

I vaguely remember seeing them in a daily newspaper once upon a time. Might have been back in the days of Mir though....

[Sue]

I think they used to be in the Telegraph in the dim and distant past.
Thanks for putting the satellite predictions on the web page. Will be useful - I have still not spotted the three NOSS satellites that go round together, they don't include them in the main Heavens-above lists. Now I know where and when to look!

[Rick]

Yes, the NOSS satellites are "sensitive" so they (mostly) don't get onto US-based sites. Chances are the elements I have are not as accurate as for the commercial and high profile satellites, so the predictions my system makes will not necessarily be quite as accurate either.

[Ian]

they're on heavens-above and they are pretty accurate. It allowed us to identify the three satellites flying in formation we saw one night from Tripes. There are several sets of them, some in the triplets, some in pairs.

[Rick]

Ah. Heavens-above has an idea of how bright they'll be too. I'm just running predictions on all large objects, Irridium satellites, and "classified" satellites for 4 days ahead....

That said, there do seem to be some slight discrepancies between the predictions my system finds and the ones Heavens Above selects. It's kind of odd. I guess we're not working from exactly the same lists. In particular I seem to be missing some debris-type objects like "Lacrosse 4 Rocket". Looks like I need to get a more complete list of elements...

[Rick]

Hmmm... Seems to have made a little difference, but there's still some missing. Far as I can tell it's mostly debris (spent rockets and the like) that aren't in the list of potentially visible satellites I've got.

[Rick]

Has anybody taken the list outside and used it yet?