Greetings fellow astrophiles!
While downtown Syracuse and surroundings are currently quite cloudy (but pleasant nonetheless), the evening skies are supposed to see considerable clearing, producing clear skies before 10:00 p.m. Use your best judgement as to when to to trek up to Darling Hill, but the grounds will be open by 8:00 p.m. for setup, enjoying the sunset, and observing the crescent Moon.
NOTE: Thursday night was VERY COLD at the Hill. If you plan on spending any amount of time looking through the different scopes, hat + gloves will make your session much more enjoyable.
There are no ISS fly-bys predicted for tonight (Mike + Larry can leave their smartphones holstered!), but the three visible Iridium Flares for tonight are listed below (courtesy of heavens-above.com).
| Date | Local Time |
Intensity (Mag) |
Alt. | Azimuth | Distance to flare centre |
Intensity at flare centre (Mag.) |
Satellite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 May | 23:03:14 | -1 | 14° | 262° (W ) | 143.2 km (E) | -6 | Iridium 6 |
| 07 May | 23:12:17 | -6 | 11° | 263° (W ) | 12.6 km (W) | -6 | Iridium 7 |
| 08 May | 03:31:26 | -5 | 42° | 276° (W ) | 13.2 km (E) | -8 | Iridium 68 |