Funny Astronomer Trick

Funniest thing ever.

ISS Toolbag refers to the toolbag one of the astronauts accidentally let go of not long ago while she was doing a spacewalk. "Oops" and a fair amount of press was all anyone could do, for now ISS Toolbag is circling the Earth, and people can actually see it! I wish I could get the photo to come through, but really, it's just a bunch of white dots with arrows pointing to ISS Toolbag and International Space Station as they circle the Earth.
I just found it funny that it's a little game amateur astronomers are playing with each other... "Have you seen the toolbag yet?" "Oh yeah, I totally did!" "Where?!" "Oh, it's right there, can't you tell? It's different than all the other dots that are moving around the Earth really fast."
Tee hee hee.
I am pretty sure I saw the ISS once, though. It really looked different than anything else, too fast for most things, and definitely not a plane or a star.

I've never looked for a toolbag, but there is too much snow around here for me to get a chance anyway.

Funny stuff from www.spaceweather.com:


TUMBLING TOOLBAG: The space station's famous sidekick, the ISS Toolbag, is circling Earth and producing flashes of light bright enough to record using off-the-shelf digital cameras. Peter Rosén sends this report from downtown Stockholm, Sweden:

"I photographed the toolbag when it passed above the moon on Dec. 3rd. It was invisible to the naked eye, but my camera (a Canon 40D) detected it in a series of 4 second exposures. The toolbag must be rotating as the light seems to flash and disappear." (continued below)


Photo details: Canon 40D, 85mm lens, f/1.2, ISO 100, 26 x 4 sec

He combined 26 images to create this composite. "The other paths are from airplanes; the short interruptions in their lights are caused by the lag between shots." Longer "black-outs" in the path of the toolbag appear to be genuine, a result of tumbling and flashing.

Readers, the toolbag and the ISS are making a series of evening passes over Europe and North America. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times.

MORE SIGHTINGS: On Dec. 7th, Kevin Fetter of Brockville, Ontario, video-recorded the toolbag zipping past 6th magnitude star 19 Pegasii: movie. On the same night, Ed Light of Lakewood, New Jersey, saw the toolbag through 10x50 binoculars. "It was varying
slightly and irregularly; I estimate its visual magnitude between 6.5 and 6.8."