ISS Sighting: Trail, BC - Edmond, OK - Lehigh Acres, FL - Site 1
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 49° 04.626 W 117° 36.516
11U E 455554 N 5436205
We partnered with Max and 99 and BoomersOTR for this, our very first ISS Sighting.
Waymark Code: WM10ZVW
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 07/19/2019
Views: 13
We arrived at the viewing site (a pullout along Highway 3, east of town) in time to view the previous ISS pass at 01:00:00 to 01:06:33 so we could shoot a few test pix. That pass was to the north and the northern sky had a lot of cloud so it was a pretty poor pass for viewing.
At the appointed time for this pass the western sky was cloud covered and, though we started watching about a minute before the space station was due to rise, we waited and waited and waited. Finally it popped out of the clouds and headed toward us, climbing fairly steeply. We had the camera fired and ready and re-aimed it in the vicinity of the ISS and began to shoot. We managed to get 4 useable 8 second exposures.
Other than when it ducked behind the odd cloud it was visible for not much longer than 3 minutes. When it passed overhead at 02:40:02 PDT it looked to be more like 80° in altitude than the advertised 60°. It seemed to go almost directly overhead. The published estimated brightness was -3.1, but there was a bit of haze, as well as scattered cloud. Even with the haze it was still plenty bright, though.
At Site 2 in Edmond, OK Max and 99 observed the ISS reaching a maximum altitude of 79° at 04:45:21 CDT with an expected magnitude of -3.8.
At Site 3 in Lehigh Acres, FL Boomers OTR observed the ISS at a maximum altitude of 49° with magnitude -3.7 at 05:49:35 EDT.
The distance from Trail to Edmond was 1,558 miles (5.3167 min. x 293 mi./min.), the distance from Edmond to Lehigh Acres was 1,240 miles (4.2333 min. x 293 mi./min.) and the total distance covered was 2,798 miles (9.55 min. x 293 mi./min.) from Trail to Lehigh Acres.
We were just a day or so past a full moon on the 19th and thought a bright moon might hinder viewing of the ISS. In fact, though, it helped us see the clouds so we weren't about to take a shot just as the ISS ducked behind one.
Our THANKS!!! go out to Max and 99 and to BoomersOTR for partnering with us for this pass, our first Waymark in this category.