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Old April 19th, 2004, 07:41 PM   #10
Bombadil
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The ISS is only visible for between two and six minutes at a pass. And I would think it is too far away to have a detectable oblong shape. Plus it ordinarily appears bright white, like Venus, not orange. But the main thing is that it moves rapidly, and will go from near the horizon to a point directly overhead (if that happens to be its path) in only two or three minutes. Did the object you were watching appear to be in motion?
Could it have been Venus? Would have to have been something in the sky to cause it to go orange, because Venus is usually a brilliant white. Was it located directly above due west, between ten and thirty degrees above the horizon (depending on what time you saw it.)
If you're sure it wasn't Venus, try e-mailing your local newspaper and see if they have any information. I once did that to find out about what sounded like a loud explosion a mile or so from my house, and it turned out to have been a sonic boom from the Space Shuttle returning from orbit. Your newspaper might know something.
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