(meteorobs) OT - Query

[prospector at znet.com]

  Joseph and others,

    James Muirden in "The Amateur Astronomer's Handbook" suggested to use
a broom handle to steady binouclars. I followed his advice, except it's a
pine branch about 24 inches long and it reduces jiggle about 70%. It can
also be placed on my legs when I'm sitting while looking at terrestrial
objects, very steady and I then can have two hands on the binoculars.

     On 1 Feb. 1999 or 2000 I saw a meteor skip off the atmosphere. It slow-
ed and was moving directly away from me, looking all the world like a spark-
ler through my 10X50 binoculars, very pretty.

     About 1985 I was using a simple table top telescope placed on a roof of
a car so I could draw the moon. I had just reajusted it when a small plane
like black object traveled from about 4 to 10 o'clock in less than three
seconds. It was about 1-2 arc seconds long. In my binocuars, it would have
been a black dot, but invisible by eye. Our shuttle fleet was not flying and
the Russian look-a-like hadn't gone up yet. I've always believed it was one
of our spy planes, the Aurora. It had delta like wings, no projections from
the rear (engines, wings) and Carnard wings that were perfect sharp tri-
angles. I figure it was traveling about 1100 mph, at about 240,000 feet, a
suborbital flight and coming home. I did't say anything for 9 years about
this sighting.

                                    Dave English
                               Oceanside, California
Quoting MexicoDoug at aol.com:

>
> If the ISS is 347 km height and under optimal circumstances (passed
> directly
> overhead), and had a cross sectional length of 72 meters, that would be
> about 43 arc seconds, about 23% (one dimensionally) greater than the
> diameter of
> Jupiter at the moment.  Can you resolve anything on  Jupiter?
>
> Saludos, Doug
>
> In a message dated 1/17/2006 11:55:21 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> josephasmus at cox.net writes:
>
> was  hoping to tap into some of the observing experience of listmembers.
> With  my pair of recently acquired Celestron Skymaster 20x80's, would I
> have been able to resolve any of the station's structure