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Star Chart for Phoenix, AZ |  |
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| Sun/Moon Data for Phoenix, AZ: | |||
Sunspot Activity
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Sunset: 1817 Sunrise: 0705 DIY Sunspot Viewer |
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1% illuminated - New Moon Moonrise: 0709 (22 Feb 2012) New Moon: Thu 22 Mar 2012 0738 MST Full Moon: Thu 08 Mar 2012 0240 MST |
Graph courtesy: Newquay Weather |
Space Wx |
Astronomy Fact
Light from distant stars and galaxies takes so long to reach us, that we are actually seeing objects as they appeared hundreds, thousands or even millions of years ago. So, as we look up at the sky, we are really looking back in time.
Color Key
| Worse | Better | Best | Sky (including Wind) | ||||||||||
| Worse | Best | Worse | Ground |
Space Track-Satellite Passes
Notes about viewing ESVs:
When using lookangles, choose passes with high magnitudes; less than 6.0. ("Looks" are local time.)
Best viewing is when ESV is in Earth's penumbra; on the map, it's the solid line during night.
Dotted line on map denotes ESV is dark, in Earth's umbra (shadow).
Objects in orbit have to maintain a speed of at least 17,500mph, therefore ESVs traverse the sky noticeably different than aircraft.
ESVs appearing to blink are either tumbling rocket bodies, or spinning payloads with deployed solar arrays.
High-Eccentricity objects have a more ellongated orbit. Ground trace looks like a backwards C.
Regression-Ground traces will move West with each orbit due to Earth's rotation.
Script courtesy of: Lee from MadALwx. Page template and Facts script courtesy of: TNET Weather.
Page Template and Moon script courtesy of: Saratoga Weather. Graph base code courtesy of: jpGraph.
