A recent article about the possibility of an early demise of the Hubble Space Telecope caught my eye. I first saw HST as it came overhead (a lot) during my first stay in the Dominican Republic (1992-1996).
Here is an entry from my observation log showing one of my first sightings of HST from the DR:
2 February 1995: (message placed on COMPUSERVE board) I got a really nice look at the HST this morning (2 February) from my perch here in Santo Domingo. I woke up early and checked the computer for any satellites that might be in the neighborhood. (I'm a ham and have been trying to communicate through the new Russian Hamsat RS-15). I noticed that HST would be visible starting at around 0935 UTC (0535 local); I scrambled up onto my roof with binoculars in hand and began to scan the southern sky. There she was, right on time! I first spotted the satellite when it was in Centaurus (with the Southern Cross glimmering off to the right) and followed it through Scorpio, below Venus and Jupiter until it vanished in the east. Great way to start the day! Yet another benefit of southern latitudes! 73 and Clear Skies, Bill (N2CQR/HI8)
I am back in the DR now; I decided to look for it again.
The Heavens-Above web site gave good info on the orbit. So did the N2YO site. There were a couple of morning passes in January that didn't work out because of local cloud cover, but last night (January 20, 2026) I managed to see it on an evening pass. It was fainter than I remember, peobably because I saw it at 1930 Local, near zenith, as it was getting ready to fly into the darkness. But I saw it. My old friend, HST.
Here is the pass that I watched last night:
No comments:
Post a Comment