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This is a sample of the complete e-mail report. You also get a simplified listing on the web (example).

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School Name: Luther Machen Elementary School
Class Name: Teacher Name here
City: Hampton                                 
State: VA                  
Country: USA                 


Daytime Overpasses:

Hampton                                  lat= 37.05 N  long= 283.71 E
spacecraft is -     TERRA

universal time					local	viewing	sat azm	relative	solar	satellite position		sat
da	mo	year	hr	mn	time	zenith	fr. north	azimuth	zenith	lat	long	dir
24	3	2001	15	44	10:44	42.77	99.30	46.08	40.52	35.88	289.92	des
25	3	2001	16	27	11:27	30.83	286.65	125.33	36.27	37.76	279.64	des
26	3	2001	15	32	10:32	55.06	97.98	42.87	41.25	35.47	292.86	des
26	3	2001	17	09	12:09	68.29	292.42	112.86	34.44	40.45	269.64	des
27	3	2001	16	15	11:15	9.89	285.79	129.51	36.36	37.13	282.51	des
28	3	2001	15	20	10:20	63.81	95.81	40.74	42.12	35.24	295.85	des
28	3	2001	16	57	11:57	61.67	290.54	116.18	33.78	39.59	272.42	des
29	3	2001	16	03	11:03	13.65	102.06	49.23	36.65	36.56	285.40	des
30	3	2001	16	45	11:45	52.65	288.64	119.63	33.34	38.79	275.24	des
31	3	2001	15	50	10:50	34.04	100.96	45.33	37.17	36.06	288.31	des

********************************************************************************
The CERES S'COOL Project      -     Students' Cloud Observations On-Line
MS 420, NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA 23681-2199
Tel.: (757) 864-5682                                Fax.: (757) 864-7996
http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/SCOOL/                  scool@lists.nasa.gov
********************************************************************************

Header

The first five lines identify the school requesting the report. Then a line identifies whether this is for daytime or night-time overpasses. Then the city and latitude/longitude of the site are listed. It should always correspond to your city and lat/long. Note that longitude can be measured either east or west to the 180th meridian (180 degrees) or 0 to 360 degrees East. For example, the longitude of NASA Langley can be reported three different ways: 76 W, or -76 E, or 284 E. The latter method is the one used in the overpass report. The last line of the header identifies the spacecraft whose orbit was computed.

Date & Time

The first 3 columns give you the date of the satellite overpass:

• da is the day of the month
  
• mo is the month (i.e., 4 is April)
  
• year is the year

The next 3 columns tell you what time (in two ways) the satellite passes over:

• hr is the hour of the day in Universal Time (UT), i.e., at the Greenwich Meridian
  
• mn is the minute of the hour in UT also. Report Universal Time on your observation report. You may want to keep a second clock set to UT in your classroom.
  
• local time is the time at which the satellite passes over in your local time, i.e., the time on your watch or clock. This is given on a 24 hour clock. 15h45 means 15 hours and 45 minutes, or 3:45 in the afternoon. This can be either Local Standard Time or Local Daylight Time; depending whether or not Daylight Saving Time is in effect.

There will often, as in this example, be more than one overpass each day. You can pick the most convenient overpass to fit your schedule; or you can use a different overpass time with different classes.

Position

The next 7 columns give information about the positions of the Sun and the satellite. This information is not needed to make an observation, but may be useful if you want to know where the satellite actually is.

• view zenith is measured in degrees. Click here for a definition and picture. With
  
• sat azm fr. N, the Satellite Azimuth from North, also measured in degrees, it tells you where in the sky to look for the position of the spacecraft. Note that you will most likely not be able to actually see the spacecraft during the day (see the FAQ).
  
• relative azimuth is the difference between the satellite and solar azimuths from north. See a picture.
  
• solar zenith is similiar to viewing zenith; but gives the location of the sun. You should be able to see the sun unless the clouds are opaque.
  
• satellite position is measured in degrees of latitude and longitude. This is the position on the Earth of the point directly below the spacecraft. This will rarely be exactly at your location. The instruments on the satellite scan around as the spacecraft orbits, so they can see a wider area than just the point directly below them.
  
• sat dir is the satellite direction. asc stands for ascending, which means the satellite is moving from south to north. des stands for descending, meaning the satellite is moving from north to south.

S'COOL What to Observe Report Form Glossary