Visually observing satellites

[bczoom]

I don't do it as a hobby or anything but can spot satellites in the sky pretty quickly.

Just stepped out a couple minutes ago and glanced at the sky and spotted one.

Does anyone do this for a hobby? I heard there's tracking programs and such that you can use so you know where they are going overhead.

 

[nixon]

I don't do it as a hobby or anything but can spot satellites in the sky pretty quickly.

Just stepped out a couple minutes ago and glanced at the sky and spotted one.

Does anyone do this for a hobby? I heard there's tracking programs and such that you can use so you know where they are going overhead.

I don't generally look for them anymore. But, in a previous life,I was stationed in an area that was what You might call a secure environment. We were given all satellite overflight times . Some even required total radio silence. You could set a time piece by them. A few of Us wanted to build something excotic for the satellites to take pictures of . Needless to say it was quashed for security reasons

 

[Snowcat Operations]

Dont need any tracking programs to see the satelites above us. They stand out like a sore thumb! I am amazed at how fast they are travelling compared to an aircraft. They must be really moving!

 

[DAP]

Here in the unpolluted skys of Coastal Maine and even in the Hudson Valley, you can spot them moving accross the sky with the naked eye. Two things ...

Clearly, at around 11 miles up, they are haulin ass
I almost ALWAYS see them moving from the south to the north. Strange, I know they have varied orbital paths ... but I always see those on a 360 course heading ...

 

[Doc]

Nasa had a opt in mailing list to let you know when they would be passing over your area. It was based on zip codes. It surprised me that the path was normally south to north. I googled so I could add the link here but did not find what I was looking for. It appears they don't do this anymore since I haven't gotten emails for a year or two now.

 

[spiffywebcreations]

http://www.heavens-above.com/

 

[Av8r3400]

... Clearly, at around 11 miles up, they are haulin ass ...

Ar you sure about that, thats only just over 58,000 feet. Corperate jets are at 40-47,000 feet. "Space" is defined as over 328,000 feet (62 miles).

I think you meant 110 miles up. That would be closer to a low Earth orbit.

 

[thcri]

I think they follow the same speed the space shuttle orbits around the earth. Don't know the actual speed but when visiting NASA on tour a shuttle was up and every 45 minutes it made one revolution around the earth.


murph

 

[bczoom]

Bump.

Dang... There must be a lot of satellites up there.
I was just outside and in a matter of 2-3 minutes I spotted 10 satellites.

 

[DAP]

Ar you sure about that, thats only just over 58,000 feet. Corperate jets are at 40-47,000 feet. "Space" is defined as over 328,000 feet (62 miles).

I think you meant 110 miles up. That would be closer to a low Earth orbit.

Yup, thanks for the catching the typo .. I've read that they cover a large band of orbit altittudes .. big sky theory is even bigger where they traverse!

That log home is looking nice too!

 

[caeryon]

Sorry for bumping up an old thread; I really must hang out more here! We live in a rural area in AZ, and there are no streetlights or other light sources nearby. We get wonderful views of the night sky, and we see satellites all the time. One of these days, I'm going to get a camera that can take decent night sky pics.

On a slightly OT bent, did anyone catch the geminid meteor shower last month? If you can see satellites from your place, you'd probably get a great view of the shower, too. We only stayed outside for a half-hour or so on one night of the shower -- for AZ, it was cold out there (in the 20s)! -- and still saw dozens of very bright "shooting stars." The geminids are a good shower to watch because they tend to move more slowly than most meteors, so you have time to see 'em. Very cool....

 

[DampCharcoal]

Here's another good tracking program: http://science.nasa.gov/Realtime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html

It is pretty neat to see satellites pass overhead on a dark, starry night. The next time the Shuttle is docked with the ISS, check it out, if weather permits.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen a meteor shower for about a year because the sky is always overcast on that particular night!

 

[Bobcat]

Here's what I use for tracking Amateur satellites. Includes a database with pretty much everything flying around though. You sync with the database over the internet at least once a month. Then you will always know what's coming overhead and the path it will follow as long as you know your local time.

http://www.nlsa.com

Anytime I find myself outside between about 9PM and 11PM, I stop for a short look and will usually spot one or two.

 

[bczoom]

Bump.

I was outside last night and as normal, I look at the skies. Saw a few satellites then something really got me going. A fast moving object with another in the same path at the same speed. Then more and more. (I'd guess 60 or so). Freaked me out a bit.

An internet search this morning found the answer quickly. SpaceX has been deploying satellites in what is called a "Starlink chain". Awesome to see in the sky.

This site shows their current location. You can set your area then click "Predict Passes" and it'll show you when they're going overhead.
https://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=StarLink3#TOP

Here's a 1-minute video to show you'll see. When I saw them last night, they were farther apart so it took closer to 5 minutes for them to pass.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l58nWIvyYs0[/ame]

 

[Bannedjoe]

We'll never be visited by people from other planets.
They'll take one look at ours, and figure we're nothing but a bunch of slobs who throw their garbage away in space.

This all sometimes makes me wonder, if we take all this weight off the planet and put it in space, are we going to upset a delicate balance of this spinning orb?

It's gonna be one hell of a time on this planet when the world rebalancing movement starts.
Global warming will seem like a drop in the bucket once scientists figure out the world is imbalanced and we need to start relocating people, structures and entire cities to other parts of the planet

Carbon tax won't even compare to world rebalancing tax.

I just may have to start this panic so I can be in on the ground floor of this when the idea takes off.

Douglas Adams wrote of a planet that was so sensitive to weight change, that when you went to visit you were initially weighed.
When you decided to leave, any extra weight that you may have gained while there, was surgically removed before you could leave.

 

[pixie]

I couldn't get that tracking/predicted pass page to work but here's one that did work for me.
https://www.n2yo.com/passes/?s=45097#

It passed over the east coast of the US about 7:25 this evening and will again for the next few days.
Though I'm not sure if that's the old time or the new time....

 

[bczoom]

I too watched them last night. If the 7:25 time tonight is using DST, not sure how well we'll see them as it won't be dark.