Dave
My original comments on this issue were that I am not out to persuade. I just thought I would share some information that I have acquired from my study of astronomy. I enjoy stargazing a lot. The smallest object the human eye can detect (according to the astronomers who have written on the subject) is a magnitude of +6. The sun is a -27 ( astronomers use a counterintuitive scale). Someone here on the BB stated that AO51 is a +9 (three levels below naked eye seeing). That would be like being down 3 S units. You might be able to see magnitude +9 from a "dark sky" location with a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.
I believe in letting everyone draw their own conclusions. I never told my two kids that there was no Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy or Easter Bunny. They just came to that on their own.
73 Jim W9VNE
----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Guimont" dguimon1@san.rr.com To: "Jim Danehy" jdanehy@cinci.rr.com Cc: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Friday, November 07, 2008 11:00 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AO 51 dimensions
AO 51 is approximately 9 inches wide by 9 inches long and 9 inches deep. About a half cubic foot in volume. Something like a 12 pack of beer . . . . The ISS by contrast is 10,000,000 cubic feet or 20 million times bigger than AO51. . . . ISS is only up 200 miles or 1,000,000 feet. I believe that AO51 is up 400 miles which would be 2,000,000 + feet. I can stand to be corrected on the AO51 height. You can see the ISS visually in a clear and dark sky. It is big enough and I encourage you to look for it. It is distinguished from other objects by its speed across the sky. Maybe you have seen it already.
Jim,
No contest on ISS, I started visuals on MIR....I think in 1980...
I was questioning those that saw AO51!!!
I used celestial navigation in WWII to find my way back to the carrier in WWII... I certainly do not claim to be an astrophysicist or any of the disciplines. but I think a simple question deserves a simple answer...
Maybe I'm on the wrong page??
73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1@san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...