Ammonia Will Leave Streaks in the Sky

I mentioned Spaceweather.com a couple of days ago, but they just sent me another alert I want to share- you may remember summer a year ago, there were a number of reports about a piece of equipment that was dumped overboard from the ISS. That device, an ammonia storage tank, will apparently re-enter the atmosphere in the next few days. It should be quite spectacular. I have checked for my zip code, and there are no fly-overs visible in the expected time frame, so I won't be able to watch it. But you might. I'm not sure how widely the "flybys" tool works (link near beginning of second paragraph); I know it's good for the US, and for Canadian Postal codes. I just checked and there's now a separate link that has global coverage, so you can check on flybys around the world.

Given how beautiful a re-entry can be (see the video linked in this post), this would definitely be worth checking on. Following is the text of the note I received:

Space Weather News for Nov. 1, 2008 http://spaceweather.com/

More than a year ago, in July 2007, International Space Station astronauts threw an obsolete, refrigerator-sized ammonia reservoir overboard. Ever since, the 1400-lb piece of space junk has been circling Earth in a decaying orbit--and now it is about to reenter. If predictions are correct, the "Early Ammonia Servicer" (EAS for short) will turn into a brilliant fireball as it disintegrates in Earth's atmosphere during the early hours of Monday, Nov. 3rd. Uncertainties in the exact reentry time are so great (plus or minus 15 hours at the time of this alert) that it is impossible to pinpoint where the fireball will appear. At the moment, every continent except Antarctica has some favorable ground tracks.

Readers should check our Satellite Tracker (http://spaceweather.com/flybys/) for
possible overflights. Before reentry, the EAS will seem about as bright as a 2nd or 3rd magnitude star, similar to the stars of the Big Dipper. During re-entry, the disintegrating reservoir could light up like a full Moon. Flyby predictions should be regarded as approximate because the orbital elements of the EAS are now changing so rapidly. Updates will be posted on http://spaceweather.com/.

Followup: I just checked the site to see if there were any further updates- no. But there is a link to a site that's keeping close tabs on the EAS, here. I think the information at this site is pretty self-explanatory, but if anyone wants clarification, leave a comment.

Followup Wed. 11/19 Apparently there has been a fireball visible from Pennsyvania. This debris re-entered earlier than expected at the time of this post, descending (apparently) between Australia and New Zealand Sunday Nov. 2 or the next morning. Tonight's fireball was some other object, probably a meteor, but possibly some man-made space debris.