ISS AND SIDEKICK

Dec 3, 2008 at 7:24 PM
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Together

(Sunica Markovic)

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The International Space Station (ISS) and its famous sidekick the ISS Toolbag are making a series of evening passes over North America and Europe. Last night Janusz Krysiak of Koluszki, Poland, trained his backyard telescope on the bright star-like ISS and this is what he saw:

The backpack-sized toolbag is absent from the scene. Since astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper dropped it on Nov. 18th, the bag has drifted far from the station and it now precedes the ISS across the sky by approximately 30 minutes. It can still be seen, however, though binoculars or a small telescope, if you know when to look. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times.

more images: from Dirk Ewers of Hofgeismar, Germany; from Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands;