T Stands for A Happy Little Time Waster

 

Last Tuesday, I showed some images of the Skylink satellites visible in the night sky. Thanks to my friends, Teague and Andy Fish, telling me about the app, Skyview, I can show you a happy, little, time waster. With this app, you can point it at objects in the sky and be shown constellations, planets, satellites, the International Space Station, etc.

The cool thing about the app is you don't need to be outside to use it. I was in the studio playing with the app. There's a setting for augmented view so you see the objects as if they were in the night sky instead of the background of my untidy studio.

The above image shows the constellation, Aquarius, the water bearer (and my drink reference ticket for T Day) as the constellation appeared at approximately 11:30 AM on 22. February 2023. Look what else is also in or "near" the constellation, Aquarius. From left to right, the blue dot is the planet, Neptune, the white dot that looks like Aquarius' belly button is Sol, the sun, next is the planet Saturn, and the dot just below the  water bearer's elbow is Mercury.

 

For Iris, the constellation, Leo (also my Zodiac sign) With the app, you can focus on an object and the app will tell you what it is. The object in Leo's rump, is Seasat 1. Searching, I found Seasat was an early satellite launched in 1978 from  JPL and was "designed to test various oceanographic sensors and gain a better understanding of Earth's seas."

All the little stick like things in the image are various satellites from the US and other countries, and bits and pieces of rockets. I was surprised how many satellites and space junk are floating around. It's a wonder there aren't tons of collisions with all the junk circling the earth.

Skyview is available for both iOS and Android. There is a paid version (for less than a cup of coffee or tea) and a Lite or free version.

There's a Skyview Lite tour on Youtube so you can see some of the features of the app.

Okay, I'm going to geek out some more and play because traveling in the augmented Universe is way more fun than cleaning or going through storm prep.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.