SATELLITES & PLANETS

Stargazing: Chinese satellite makes appearance Friday night

Bernie BadgerSatellites and Planets

China’s experimental Tiangong 1 is one of the two brightest satellites visible tonight. At its brightest it is expected to reach magnitude 2.5 which is almost as bright as the two stars at the bottom of the “cup” of the Big Dipper.

The name Tiangong means “Heavenly Palace” and is part of China’s project 192 to build a multi-module space station. Two previous manned modules have docked with the Tiangong 1 but it is currently unoccupied.

At 8:51 pm. the satellite starts a long path leading from the western horizon to its highest point in the NNW. The highest altitude is 36 degrees, which is between one third and one half of the way up to the zenith. This is where it crosses the handle of the Big Dipper at 8:46 p.m. After that Tiangong 1 will descend slowly while still winding around the horizon to end up in the NE among the bright stars of Cassiopeia. It disappears from view when it enters the Earth’s shadow and is eclipsed at 8:95 p.m.

The International Space Station (ISS) is much brighter because it’s bigger. But the ISS will be decommissioned sometime around 2020. Proposals for new space stations are being made by Russia, China, and even private companies such as Bigelow Aerospace. Before the ISS only the Mir space station had a long duration in space. China has plans for Tiangong to be joined by other modules in a long-term presence in space.

Russia has made proposals to reuse some of its modules from the ISS to form part of a new station that would be given a high-inclination orbit. This orbit spends more time in high latitudes where it can perform land surveillance of Russia.

Get out and see the future of space, Tiangong 1, the Heavenly Palace

Mr. Badger is Project Coordinator at the Eastern Florida State College Planetarium in Cocoa. Send questions, suggestions, or comments to badgerb@easternflorida.edu.

At the planetarium

Friday

7 p.m. Ring World

8:15 p.m. The Living Sea (IMAX)

9 p.m. U2 Laser Show

Saturday

7 p.m. Mars Quest

8:15 p.m. Mysteries of Egypt (IMAX)

9 p.m. Led Zeppelin Laser

Wednesday

2 p.m. The Planets

3:15 p.m. Mysteries of Egypt (IMAX)

You can access the EFSC planetarium show schedule using the online calendar at calendarwiz.com/planetarium. You may call the box office at (321) 433-7373 to hear our show schedule and prices.