Mars will rise at 6:01 in the east-north-east and will be obviously red-orange, with much whiter but not quite as bright Saturn following in the same location from 8:11.
Not in space (yet anyway) is a Russian Proton rocket slated to launch from Kazakhstan at
spaceflightnow on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free
Check the live information stream here and check photos and video of the rocket being transported and tilted up here. Check how rough the upper stages of the rocket look!
The International Space Station will have evening visible passes, as per the following table from heavens-above.com, with the best passes being 31 March (4 minutes and -3.2 magnitude - very bright) and 1 April (6 minutes, -3.0).
Heavens-Above.com - ISS passes
| Search period start: | 25 March 2012 00:00 | |
| Search period end: | 03 April 2012 23:00 | |
| Location: | Canberra, 35.2833°S, 149.2167°E | |
| Orbit: | 378 x 400 km, 51.6° (Epoch: 24 March) | |
Click on the date to get a star chart and other pass details.
| Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | ||||||
| (mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | |
| 26 Mar | -0.7 | 20:27:26 | 10° | SSE | 20:27:56 | 10° | SSE | 20:27:56 | 10° | SSE |
| 27 Mar | -0.6 | 21:04:28 | 10° | SSW | 21:05:15 | 15° | SSW | 21:05:15 | 15° | SSW |
| 28 Mar | -1.3 | 20:07:43 | 10° | S | 20:09:49 | 16° | SSE | 20:10:16 | 15° | SE |
| 29 Mar | -2.0 | 20:45:37 | 10° | SW | 20:47:40 | 33° | SSW | 20:47:40 | 33° | SSW |
| 30 Mar | -2.0 | 19:48:32 | 10° | SSW | 19:51:18 | 26° | SE | 19:52:48 | 18° | ESE |
| 30 Mar | 0.0 | 21:24:39 | 10° | WSW | 21:25:09 | 13° | WSW | 21:25:09 | 13° | WSW |
| 31 Mar | -3.2 | 20:26:51 | 10° | SW | 20:30:03 | 65° | NW | 20:30:24 | 59° | N |
| 01 Apr | -3.0 | 18:29:27 | 10° | SW | 18:32:35 | 48° | SE | 18:35:42 | 10° | ENE |
| 01 Apr | -0.3 | 20:07:00 | 10° | WNW | 20:08:08 | 12° | WNW | 20:08:08 | 12° | WNW |
| 02 Apr | -1.5 | 19:08:15 | 10° | WSW | 19:11:04 | 29° | NW | 19:13:41 | 11° | NNE |
Don't know your directions? Grab a compass or use the compass app on your iPhone. There are links embedded in these tables so you can download star maps too for better location.
3 April will also be a good long pass:
Date: Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Time: 06:14 PM
Duration: 4 minutes
Maximum Elevation: 69°
Approach: 36° above WSW
Departure: 12° above NE
Try setting up your camera with a wide-ish field of view and locking open to capture the ISS track in an arcing line across the star tracks in a tighter circle around the southern pole.
A bit more of a challenge will be the ATV3, which is a resupply ship launched by an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guinea on Friday, and currently playing catch-up to the ISS:
Heavens-Above.com - ATV3 passes
| Search period start: | 25 March 2012 00:00 | |
| Search period end: | 03 April 2012 23:00 | |
| Location: | Canberra, 35.2833°S, 149.2167°E | |
| Orbit: | 270 x 288 km, 51.6° (Epoch: 24 March) | |
Click on the date to get a star chart and other pass details.
| Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | ||||||
| (mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | |
| 29 Mar | 2.4 | 19:49:15 | 10° | S | 19:50:15 | 12° | SSE | 19:50:50 | 11° | SE |
| 30 Mar | 1.7 | 19:48:38 | 10° | SSW | 19:50:34 | 19° | SE | 19:51:16 | 17° | ESE |
| 31 Mar | 0.6 | 19:48:11 | 10° | SSW | 19:50:32 | 37° | SE | 19:51:34 | 24° | E |
| 01 Apr | 0.1 | 18:47:42 | 10° | SW | 18:50:00 | 75° | SW | 18:51:48 | 18° | NE |
| 02 Apr | 1.5 | 18:47:11 | 10° | WSW | 18:49:28 | 34° | NW | 18:51:43 | 10° | NNE |
| 03 Apr | 2.9 | 18:46:49 | 10° | W | 18:48:26 | 16° | NW | 18:50:02 | 10° | N |
For magnitude, the smaller the number the brighter the object, with negatives even brighter.
Here are some photos caught overnight in Europe by an amateur of the ISS and then the ATV3 chasing it.
You want more challenge? Well the sky is clear tonight, so why not? Here are all the satellites brighter than 3.5 for tonight:
| Location: | Canberra, 35.2833°S, 149.2167°E | |
| Brightness cutoff (mag): | 3.5 | |
| Satellite | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | ||||||
| (mag) | Time | Altitude | Azimuth | Time | Altitude | Azimuth | Time | Altitude | Azimuth | |
| Cosmos 2219 Rocket | 2.2 | 19:33:16 | 10° | SSW | 19:38:54 | 74° | ESE | 19:44:29 | 10° | NNE |
| Cosmos 2297 Rocket | 2.2 | 19:34:02 | 10° | NNW | 19:39:41 | 77° | ENE | 19:45:23 | 10° | SSE |
| BREEZE-M DEB (TANK) | 3.0 | 19:39:53 | 10° | WNW | 19:43:20 | 75° | SE | 19:52:37 | 10° | ESE |
| Resurs 1-4 Rocket | 2.7 | 19:46:21 | 10° | S | 19:51:41 | 63° | WSW | 19:56:56 | 10° | NNW |
| SL-16 R/B | 2.2 | 19:47:11 | 10° | SSW | 19:52:54 | 70° | ESE | 19:58:33 | 10° | NNE |
| Cosmos 407 Rocket | 3.5 | 19:54:39 | 10° | SSW | 20:00:03 | 75° | ESE | 20:05:19 | 10° | NNE |
| SL-8 R/B | 2.8 | 19:58:34 | 10° | NNE | 20:01:57 | 67° | ESE | 20:05:21 | 10° | S |
| Meteor 1-31 Rocket | 3.0 | 19:59:25 | 10° | SSE | 20:03:20 | 50° | E | 20:07:12 | 10° | N |
| CZ-2C R/B | 3.2 | 20:04:08 | 10° | NNE | 20:09:25 | 89° | ESE | 20:15:06 | 10° | SSW |
| TACSAT 3 | 3.4 | 20:27:31 | 10° | W | 20:30:00 | 44° | SW | 20:30:37 | 42° | SSE |
| Cosmos 2333 Rocket | 2.8 | 20:29:23 | 10° | SSW | 20:35:05 | 59° | WNW | 20:40:43 | 10° | N |
| SPOT 1/Viking Rocket | 3.5 | 20:32:59 | 10° | SSE | 20:38:12 | 68° | ENE | 20:43:23 | 10° | N |
| Atlas Centaur 2 | 3.4 | 20:36:25 | 10° | W | 20:45:03 | 60° | N | 20:49:05 | 32° | NE |
| Cosmos 1544 | 3.1 | 20:37:44 | 10° | S | 20:41:45 | 72° | E | 20:42:52 | 45° | NNE |
| ATLAS 5 CENTAUR R/B | 2.3 | 20:45:57 | 10° | NW | 20:49:15 | 43° | N | 20:49:15 | 43° | N |
| Tiangong 1 | 2.3 | 20:58:04 | 10° | SW | 20:59:29 | 18° | SSW | 20:59:29 | 18° | SSW |
| GPS 2-04 Rocket1 | 3.3 | 21:01:23 | 10° | WNW | 21:04:59 | 55° | NNW | 21:04:59 | 55° | NNW |
| TITAN 4B R/B | 2.3 | 21:02:21 | 10° | SSW | 21:06:30 | 45° | SSE | 21:06:30 | 45° | SSE |
Here's another challenge: track down the top secret American robotic space shuttle the X-37B. Just don't tell anyone - it's all shhh! But us Greens, with our CIA backing, get the inside skinny on these things...
| Search period start: | 25 March 2012 00:00 | |
| Search period end: | 03 April 2012 23:00 | |
| Location: | Canberra, 35.2833°S, 149.2167°E | |
| Orbit: | 329 x 340 km, 42.8° (Epoch: 20 March) | |
Click on the date to get a star chart and other pass details.
| Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | ||||||
| (mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | |
| 31 Mar | 4.3 | 06:25:32 | 10° | N | 06:27:38 | 19° | NE | 06:29:44 | 10° | E |
| 01 Apr | 2.3 | 05:44:38 | 10° | NW | 05:47:25 | 57° | NNE | 05:50:14 | 10° | ESE |
| 02 Apr | 4.2 | 04:32:07 | 19° | NE | 04:32:07 | 19° | NE | 04:34:03 | 10° | E |
| 03 Apr | 2.1 | 04:51:35 | 56° | NNE | 04:51:43 | 57° | NNE | 04:54:32 | 10° | ESE |
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