Phys.org alerts me to the fact that 3 tiny Japanese cube satellites, looking for all of the world like escapees from a recent Dr Who episode, were recently released from the International Space Station. Here's a photo:
They seem more of a novelty device than anything else, but one of them is full of LED's which will flash a simple morse code message which should be visible with binoculars, or perhaps the naked eye. The story links to this Japanese site which shows one of them in more detail.
I'm not exactly sure how to check when they will be visible from Australia. Will they just stay close to the ISS?
I'm surprised that LCDs from a small cube in orbit might be visible with the naked eye. I will go looking for more information about sightings. I can't see anything from Google blog search yet.
Where's the nerdy satellite watching community when you need them?
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