Consecutive sunlit ISS lunar transits

Below are some comparisons between the predictions of 4 programs / web services in regard to consecutive sunlit ISS lunar transits near Preston, England, the evening of December 4, 2003. Except for CalSKY, the TLE used was:

1 25544U 98067A 03338.33425327 .00014961 00000-0 18257-3 0 9038
2 25544 51.6276 241.8062 0006209 207.5767 152.5062 15.65278990 7609

The most remarkable thing about these comparisons is that, while CalSKY's predicted path is in good agreement with the other programs, its timing appears to be late by about 21 seconds.

CalSKY apparently used:

1 25544U 98067A 03338.58985813 .00014961 00000-0 18257-3 0 9081
2 25544 51.6309 240.5098 0006233 210.8005 149.2788 15.65208287247640

The discrepancy is evidently due to the fact that CalSKY hasn't yet updated from NASA's Mission Control Center's ISS ephemeris page.

Dec. 4 update: CalSKY is now using the same TLE, and its predictions are now in close agreement with the other programs.

The map below was created from the output of my WorldView program, using Microsoft Streets & Trips 2002.

B - date C - time D - elevation angle of the ISS E - azimuth angle of the ISS (positive = east from north; negative = west from north) F - range (miles) G - latitude for observing the transit H - longitude I - how far (miles) can I be from the centerline? J - is space station sunlit? K - sun elevation angle L - sun/moon separation angle B----- C----- D--- E----- F--- G------- H-------- I---- J K---- L---- 4 Dec 160320 15.0 97.5 703 53.9033 -2.7361 4.4 y -2.0 134.7 4 Dec 160321 15.1 97.6 700 53.9163 -2.5649 4.3 y -2.1 134.7 Denis Boucher's program:

Date Time RA Dec EL AZ Dist(Min) Range(Km) 04/12 16:03:20 01h 44m 28s 07d 42m 09s 15 098 5.6m 1124

CalSKY:

16h03m40.91s ISS Crosses the disk of Moon. Separation: 0.12d (7.2m) Position Angle: 351.7d Angular Velocity: 13.1'/s. Transit duration: 2.00s Angular diameter: 16.5" size: 73.0m x 44.5m x 27.5m Satellite at az: 97.7d E h: 15.2d dist: 1122.9 km mag=0.2m Satellite apparently moves to direction 261.7° Centerline →Map: Lon:357d17m46s Lat: +53d55m53s dist: 3.17 km az: 352.8d N Path direction: 82.8d E ground speed: 11.328 km/s width: 23.9 km max. duration: 2.4 s

with up to date TLE:

16h03m20.15s ISS Crosses the disk of Moon. Separation: 0.06d (3.6m) Position Angle: 351.9d Angular Velocity: 13.0'/s. Transit duration: 2.21s Angular diameter: 16.5" size: 73.0m x 44.5m x 27.5m Satellite at az: 97.6d E h: 15.1d dist: 1126.0 km mag=0.2m Satellite apparently moves to direction 261.8° Centerline →Map: Lon:357d17m54s Lat: +53d55m07s dist: 1.59 km az: 352.7d N Path direction: 82.7d E ground speed: 11.348 km/s width: 24.0 km max. duration: 2.3 s

SkyMap:

B----- C----- D--- E----- F--- G------- H-------- I---- J K---- L---- 4 Dec 173758 28.3 117.7 458 53.9095 -2.7504 2.5 y -14.4 135.4 4 Dec 173759 28.3 117.8 457 53.8996 -2.6210 2.5 y -14.5 135.4

Denis Boucher's program:

Date Time RA Dec EL AZ Dist(Min) Range(Km) 04/12 17:37:59 01h 47m 00s 08d 02m 13s 28 118 3.7m 735

CalSKY:

17h38m19.77s ISS Crosses the disk of Moon. Separation: 0.03d (1.8m) Position Angle: 339.9d Angular Velocity: 23.4'/s. Transit duration: 1.26s Angular diameter: 25.2" size: 73.0m x 44.5m x 27.5m Satellite at az: 117.9d ESE h: 28.3d dist: 735.8 km mag=-0.7m Satellite apparently moves to direction 249.9° Centerline →Map: Lon:357d18m12s Lat: +53d54m26s dist: 0.48 km az: 7.5d N Path direction: 97.5d E ground speed: 8.533 km/s width: 15.5 km max. duration: 1.3 s

with up to date TLE:

17h37m58.34s ISS Crosses the disk of Moon. Separation: 0.03d (1.8m) Position Angle: 340.0d Angular Velocity: 23.4'/s. Transit duration: 1.26s Angular diameter: 25.2" size: 73.0m x 44.5m x 27.5m Satellite at az: 117.8d ESE h: 28.3d dist: 736.1 km mag=-0.7m Satellite apparently moves to direction 249.9° Centerline →Map: Lon:357d18m08s Lat: +53d54m31s dist: 0.48 km az: 7.4d N Path direction: 97.4d E ground speed: 8.537 km/s width: 15.5 km max. duration: 1.3 s

SkyMap: