some additional comments on visual sighting
the accepted opinion of astronomers is that you can see +6 magnitude stars without the assistance of a telescope or binoculars . . . . if AO 51 is +9 then it is virtually impossible to see it with the naked eye . . .
as for comets : well in order for comets to be seen those small particles that you see must be within the Karman line . . . which is at 62 miles (up) . . . the atmosphere pretty well ends at 75 to 80 miles up . . . in order for those objects to be seen they must be within the atmosphere where they "burn up" by friction against the "air" atmosphere (. . . AO 51 is some 300 miles or 400 miles up and the ISS is 200 miles up . . .
the sun is - 27 and we all know the brightest thing out there for us here on earth . . . . +6 for naked eye viewing . . . +9 is not visible
Jim W9VNE
Hi Jim:
You are of course referring to Meteors not Comets. The gaseous/particulate clouds streaming from comets are visible millions of miles out when they get energy from the sun.
Curt KU8L
Jim Danehy wrote:
the accepted opinion of astronomers is that you can see +6 magnitude stars without the assistance of a telescope or binoculars . . . . if AO 51 is +9 then it is virtually impossible to see it with the naked eye . . .
as for comets : well in order for comets to be seen those small particles that you see must be within the Karman line . . . which is at 62 miles (up) . . . the atmosphere pretty well ends at 75 to 80 miles up . . . in order for those objects to be seen they must be within the atmosphere where they "burn up" by friction against the "air" atmosphere (. . . AO 51 is some 300 miles or 400 miles up and the ISS is 200 miles up . . .
the sun is - 27 and we all know the brightest thing out there for us here on earth . . . . +6 for naked eye viewing . . . +9 is not visible
Jim W9VNE
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Curt
Yup ya got me but you knew what I meant to say . . . I guess we have become used to that over the political season, listening to so much mis-statement . . . mea culpa OM . . . being informed beats the alternative . . . ya need astmosphere to see those little particles of sand from meteors . . . comets are way out there in space where there is no atmosphere . . . they are large too
TNX 73 Jim W9VNE
----- Original Message ----- From: "Curt Nixon" cptcurt@flash.net To: "Jim Danehy" jdanehy@cinci.rr.com Cc: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 2:57 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] some additional comments on visual sighting
Hi Jim:
You are of course referring to Meteors not Comets. The gaseous/particulate clouds streaming from comets are visible millions of miles out when they get energy from the sun.
Curt KU8L
Jim Danehy wrote:
the accepted opinion of astronomers is that you can see +6 magnitude stars without the assistance of a telescope or binoculars . . . . if AO 51 is +9 then it is virtually impossible to see it with the naked eye . . .
as for comets : well in order for comets to be seen those small particles that you see must be within the Karman line . . . which is at 62 miles (up) . . . the atmosphere pretty well ends at 75 to 80 miles up . . . in order for those objects to be seen they must be within the atmosphere where they "burn up" by friction against the "air" atmosphere (. . . AO 51 is some 300 miles or 400 miles up and the ISS is 200 miles up . . . the sun is - 27 and we all know the brightest thing out there for us here on earth . . . . +6 for naked eye viewing . . . +9 is not visible
Jim W9VNE
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
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Jim Danehy