Small object?

[Episkey]

I was observing the Orion Nebula at low power tonight and a small object crossed through my field of view. It was about the size of the stars around, and took about 2-3 seconds to cross the fov. Is this a meteor or a satellite?

[Nexus 6]

Hi Episkey

would think more than likely a satellite, do you know exactly what time? It may be possible to check exactly which one using Stellarium.

[stolenfeather]

It sounds like a satellite to me. Alan is right, looking at Stellarium will surely pin-point the exact satellite found in that particular region.

Isabelle

[Episkey]

Ok thanks. It was at 6:49 PST, I'll check tomorrow.

[lukebl]

Almost certainly a geostationary satellite. See this thread: http://stargazerslounge.com/observing-reports/172459-more-faint-geostationary-sats.html

[acey]

Almost certainly a geostationary satellite. See this thread: http://stargazerslounge.com/observing-reports/172459-more-faint-geostationary-sats.html

Interesting link, but the OP saw the object move across a low-power field of view in 2-3 seconds, which is what an ordinary satellite would do. A geostationary one would take far longer and look effectively stationary.

I see plenty of satellites while observing but have often wondered if geostationary ones can be observed so thanks for the link.

[lukebl]

Interesting link, but the OP saw the object move across a low-power field of view in 2-3 seconds, which is what an ordinary satellite would do. A geostationary one would take far longer and look effectively stationary.

Fair point. Sorry, I didn't read the post properly. I had assumed that you were observing whilst tracking the stars, in which case a geostationary satellite would appear to be slowly moving across the field of view even though in reality it would be stationary in the sky. Given that it took just a few seconds to cross, then it looks like it was probably an ordinary satellite.