I’ve had great fun trying to capture The Webb Space Telescope since launch.
A new challenge beckons.
I am going to see if I can also catch the upper stage booster of the Ariane rocket.
You can generate an ephemeris of both Webb and the upper stage using the ProjectPluto Web page:
https://projectpluto.com/sat_eph.htm
So it would be good to see how this Webb prediction compares to NASA’s Horizons tool:
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/
I have generated their ephemerides for tonight and have put these positions into my planetarium program to produce the map below.
The second map shows a wider view with the Ariane upper stage mapped as well.
As you can see it is trailing quite a way behind the Webb Space Telescope.
But I have heard that the booster was fainter than magnitude +17 on Sunday night, so I think it might be a thankless task.
But you’ll never know unless you try!
We might get another chance to see it later though!
After going into solar orbit it will come back close to Earth around 2047.
When I get a moment, I’ll do an ephemeris for last night and see how accurate PlutoProject is was compared to the images I captured.
But, before that, if we get some clear skies in a bit, you know where I’ll be, and where my scope will be pointed…
