Measuring the pictures I took when the orbiter was near the zenith, the plasma train appears to be about .12 to .13 degrees wide. The shuttle itself would be smaller. If memory serves, the Moon is about the size of a green pea held at arm's length. Since the Moon is about .5 degree across you'd need something about 1/4 the size of a green pea to approximate the width of the train. Since a green pea I pulled out of the freezer measured about 8 mm after thawing I'd guess you'd need something about 2 mm wide to approximate the width of the train. A nickel seems to be about right. So hold a nickel at arm's length, turn it edge on and that's about the width of the train. Patrick stargaze@attbi.com wrote:
Patrick, Brent, Jim, Larry and anyone else that went down: I have been asked by a number of people how big the re entry appeared and I am having a hard time describing it. I wish I would have thought to hold something up to have a comparison. Would you say it was about the size of a dime held out at arms length, or am I being to optimistic. My daughter that went down with me said that I could compare it to an airplane flying at 35,000 feet surrounded by all the colors. Any better size comparisons? Thanks, Steve Nielsen