🚀 go-pugleaf

Also, for those too afraid to ask the questions...

In article <C1FIH6.36u@hfglobe.intel.com>, labelle@hfglobe.intel.com (George La Belle) writes:
> 	1) Satellites in orbit can be seen (by reflected light) going
> 	overhead at night. How large would it have to be to make out what
> 	it is? (not a point source).

Naked eye? At least dozens of meters. Years ago there was a scheme to launch a ring which 
would be visible but it fell through. For instance, Skylab was pretty big, but at best you 
could only see a couple of reflections from the different solar arrays, etc.. but you could
not discern any shape (unless you had a good imagination).

> 	2) What is the smallest thing that can be seen with the naked eye?

Under what conditions? From the top of a mountian? Lots of people like to watch satellites
and track them. I'm sure you could get several different answers. I've seen lots of 
unidentified satellites, I'd guess the smallest would probably be a few meters long or wide.

> 	3) What distance away is the space shuttle, when orbiting?

The shuttle is only capable of about 400 mile altitude circular orbit but usually is much
lower.  If your looking for a good target you will want to try Mir the Russian space station. 
It is visible periodicially and very easy to spot using shareware tracking programs. It can
rival Jupiter in brightness at best and usually is as bright as the brightest stars in the sky, but
if its at a bad angle and conditions a poor (light, weather, etc) you may not see it at all.

Check out your library for books on satellite observing. 

Dennis Newkirk (dennisn@ecs.comm.mot.com)
Motorola, Land Mobile Products Sector
Schaumburg, IL