SKY SPY: See Space Junk Float in Front of Brightest Star
Posted on: Saturday, 5 March 2005, 09:00 CST
Last week, the Hubble Space Telescope passed near the night sky's brightest star, and this week a hunk of space flotsam will pass directly in front of it.
The rocket body used to launch the French surveillance satellite known as Helios 1A nearly 10 years ago will rise in the south at 7:52:51 p.m. Friday.
Projections of its orbit show the space junk passing directly in front of the sky's brightest star, Sirius, shortly after it rises.
At exactly 7:56:41, the rocket body will reach maximum altitude, very close to the zenith of the sky. This portion of the rocket body's orbit brings it in close to the bright star, Capella, in the constellation Auriga.
Three seconds after the clock strikes 8:01, the rocket body will dip below the northern horizon.
Though it's not nearly as reflective as the Hubble or the International Space Station, the Helios 1A rocket body will have a magnitude of 3.2 on this pass. That makes it a little brighter than the dimmest star in the Big Dipper, Delta Ursae Major, the juncture of the handle and the bowl.
Contact reporter Thomas Stauffer at 573-4197 or at tstauffer@azstarnet.com.
Source: Arizona Daily Star
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