A Look At The Next Rain Chance, Fall Foliage, And Satellite Fly By's!!

Yesterday really did feel like fall!! Temperatures only hit 61.5* degrees here in the Lafayette area. Remington seen a high real close to Lafayette, with 61.6* degrees. That's just point one degree higher! As I have said before the average high for this time of year is right around 66* degrees so we were right where we should have been. But what about today and the rest of the week? Well, I'll get into that in just a few minutes. First I wanted to take the time to really point out how beautiful this time of year really is!

Have you been taking the time to enjoy the fall foliage? It is really becoming amazing outside. Leaves are changing all around us and starting to fall. I found this image below taken out of Brown county from the "Leaf Cam". Take a look.

With the sun angle in this shot it is a little hard to see all the beautiful colors however if you look close you can see all the Browns, Reds, Yellow's, And Orange's spread across the miles of trees. This is pretty much how most of Indiana is looking at this time. Here's a map below showing the Fall Foliage across the USA below.

You can see that the Lafayette, / Remington, area falls between that Patchy and Near peak area. Soon we will all be out with the rakes starting our fall clean up! I have already started clearing off the deck out back. I no sooner get it clean and then I have to do it again. I know I should wait until all the leaves fall but that's not me lol. I enjoy being outside with all the changing leaves so I guess it's not a problem. ;)

If any of you have any Fall foliage pictures I'd love to post them. Just send them to me at storm18mini@aol.com and I'll see what I can do! :)

Now how about we see what's in store weather - wise for today?

I'm looking for temperatures to become slightly warmer today as they climb into the upper 60s around 69* degrees. Lows tonight will be rather cool in the upper 30s near 39* degrees. Yes, you may want to close the windows before heading to bed. I made the mistake of leaving mine open the other night and brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Was it cold by the time I woke up lol. So just thought I'd give you a heads up! Anyway I think we Will keep Partly cloudy skies in the forecast for today with again no rain. :( However that may change by the weekend!

Yes, Saturday into Sunday is looking like our next chance at some rainfall here in Indiana. Currently looking like more then a tenth inch! :) Maybe even a quarter inch could be in store! As for next week? Well, I'm thinking we will see more chances at some decent rainfall and maybe even some cooler fall like temperatures as we get closer to Halloween. All we can do is keep hope! And keep watching this possible and much needed rain on the way.

Now I have one more thing for all you bloggers and sky watchers out there! We will have two chances at seeing satellites fly over head tonight. If we keep our skies clear then you should be able to see them or at least one of them! The first fly by will be the "XSS-11". It's brightness isn't great which means it will be barely visible to the naked eye but still possible to see! However if you have a scope it will be much easier! Here's a little info on "XSS-11" below.

The XSS-11 is a washing-machine-sized spacecraft that was launched by the US Air Force in April 2005 to demonstrate "autonomous rendezvous and proximity maneuvers." In other words, it would approach, investigate, and photograph other spacecraft in Earth orbit. In December 2006, it was maneuvered into a disposal orbit and lost to satellite spotters. It was just recently rediscovered. It's fairly dim so dark, clear skies are required for this one. You may see it flare.

Now the second fly by will be easier to see! It's the GOCE (flaring satellite). It's brightness is dim But Visible. Here's it's info below as well.Europe's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer ("GOCE" for short) is an extraordinary spacecraft. It circles the planet at a perilously low altitude using fins to cut through the wisps of Earth's outermost atmosphere. GOCE's sophisticated ion engine constantly adjusts its thrust between 1 and 20 millinewtons (mN) to counteract even the slightest hint of atmospheric drag. All this is necessary to make the finest-ever maps of Earth's gravitational field. For sky watchers, the best thing about GOCE is that it flares like a meteor when sunlight glints from its solar panels. The brightness of the flares is similar to the stars in the Big Dipper.

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To view the XSS-11, look "North" at around 7:13pm. It should be visible from 7:13pm through 7:15pm.

To view the GOCE (Flaring Satellite) look "South" at around 8:07pm. It should be visible from 8:07pm through 8:09pm.

So get out and see what you can find in the sky tonight bloggers! ;) Have fun and I'll check back soon.