Small streaking light spotted above the horizon
Was that a bird? Or a plane? Under the “cover of darkness”, it may well have been the ISS followed by an eager Shuttle. Oh, the stories I’ll be able to tell my descendants, as we sit around whatever technology supercedes the family hearth in decades to come. Next time, I should bring someone with better eyesight and a deeper familiarity with heavenly bodies than the one I received during an audited astronomy course with “Whistling Earl” back in the last century at UPEI.
When it comes to stargazing, I am a noob. Sure, I’ve looked upward after the sun sets, hoping that the knowledge of the ages would be imparted by the simple act of tilting my head back and squinting, but nothing is ever as simple as the guy on the Night Sky program makes it sound. Back in the dome attached to Memorial Hall, I did learn that the winter night is dark AND cold. Did you know that binoculars cease to flex when the mercury (not Mercury) dips? Take my word for it, and save yourself the beginnings of chillblains.
This afternoon, there was a bulletin on Wired, mentioning the great sky chase that would be on this evening. After waiting for a place in the online queue, my postal code gave me a sheet of times, elevations and magnitudes for watching manufactured heavenly bodies. The price was right, and after a quick check with a friend that knows (think lifeline on Want To Be A Millionaire), I donned my longs, grabbed my twins and headed up into that new industrial park just across the way. In passing, I really need to get out more, because I’ve been here for two decades and I didn’t even know they’d built that complex. A maze of bright orange sodium vapour lights, speed bumps and cyclone fences. An added bonus was the sky, devoid of clouds.
For what it’s worth, at the appointed time I saw a small, fast moving spot of bright light, moving across a field of stars. It could have been a plane, but after 150 seconds, it vanished. Planes aren’t supposed to do that (has to do with schedules and flight plans and waiting relatives). A satellite, on the other hand, shines by virtue of its angle with the sun (the one that went down some hours ago). Educated guess, I did see the ISS. Turn off the applause machine now. Thank you.
Will I go out again tomorrow? Nah. My descendants will only be interested by the first time, just like everybody else.
