strange moving dso

[dweller25]

not at that rate. thats what i was on about the earth doesnt rotate that much.

Try using a dob and saying that

[lukebl]

Hi guys,

I'm flattered that you think I might know the answer! Actually, it's certain that the objects are indeed geostationary satellites, which generally occur at a declination of around -7 degrees south when seen from the UK, which is precisely where saturn is right now.

Here's an animation of a perod from 12:44 to 12:56 this morning, around Saturn. In that period three geostationaries went past (the green blobs). they were RASCOM-QAF 1R, Atlantic Bird 4A, and Eutelsat 3A. Their precise positions for your location will differ slightly from mine, but given that they are orbiting at a distance of around 38600km I doubt if the difference will be that great.

[Stu]

I had every faith in you , and it looks like I was right to have. Thanks for the info.

Cheers

Stu

[faulksy]

ok good man wow what a good moment it was while it lasted though, thanks migmak and thank you very much likebi. i didnt recognise your name sorry about that but i did recognise your avitar. so i wonder what will happen tonight lol

[Moonshane]

not really related but I was once looking at a galaxy in Leo and suddenly two 'galaxies' moved by quickly in the same (approx 1 degree) field. they had almost exactly the same appearance as the galaxy but moving quite quickly across the field together. In the end I concluded they were birds but they had me going for a second or two!

[Scosmico]

I saw it last night too. I came here to write about it after coming back from dark skies in Wales.

I saw it twice actually, one hour and 1/2 apart. It was in the FOV of my Eyepiece in both occasions. I think that it is piece of space junk.

Does any one have more info about it?

ra 13hrs 50 mins 20.2 sec

dec-07" 32" 9

was watching saturn and this object passed along side the planet very faint moving realy slow still tracking it now

[Scosmico]

Nice one.

This may explain why I saw it twice. I actually saw two geo sats.

I estimate both around 8.5 +-0.5 magnitude.

Thank you Lukebl.

Hi guys,

I'm flattered that you think I might know the answer! Actually, it's certain that the objects are indeed geostationary satellites, which generally occur at a declination of around -7 degrees south when seen from the UK, which is precisely where saturn is right now.

Here's an animation of a perod from 12:44 to 12:56 this morning, around Saturn. In that period three geostationaries went past (the green blobs). they were RASCOM-QAF 1R, Atlantic Bird 4A, and Eutelsat 3A. Their precise positions for your location will differ slightly from mine, but given that they are orbiting at a distance of around 38600km I doubt if the difference will be that great.

[faulksy]

I saw it last night too. I came here to write about it after coming back from dark skies in Wales.

I saw it twice actually, one hour and 1/2 apart. It was in the FOV of my Eyepiece in both occasions. I think that it is piece of space junk.

Does any one have more info about it?

could of been space junk

[kenmyers]

It is amazing what is actually up in orbit!

Thanks lukebl and well done faulksy for reporting them

1UP!

[lukebl]

Here's another way of looking at it. Each green blob is a satellite above mag 9.0 in the region of Saturn. Each frame represents 5 minutes. Obviously the stationary ones are ...er... geostationary, but they appear to move relative to the stars! Heck, it's crowded up there, particularly at -7 degrees degrees south.

The program is Sky Safari Pro.

[Scosmico]

Nice one Lukebl.

Looking at this gif it seems pretty hard that I didn't see one of them before.

Astrophotographers watch out!

Here's another way of looking at it. Each green blob is a satellite above mag 9.0 in the region of Saturn. Each frame represents 5 minutes. Obviously the stationary ones are ...er... geostationary, but they appear to move relative to the stars! Heck, it's crowded up there, particularly at -7 degrees degrees south.

The program is Sky Safari Pro.

[Viv]

Astrophotographers watch out!

That is cool

Don't say that - they'll all be pointing in that direction & trying to grab an image ........

lol

[lukebl]

Don't say that - they'll all be pointing in that direction & trying to grab an image ........

Seriously, I don't think so. They're really, really, really not very interesting to look at. I mean, really boring, and a hindrance to decent images.

[Rattler]

I saw something last night too. At 10:27 from the west I think. I'm hoping it was the ISS.

[Stu]

ISS came over earlier than that, 21.52 if I remember correctly and was a bright pass, -3.4 mag, looked great.

Stu

[kenmyers]

Here's another way of looking at it. Each green blob is a satellite above mag 9.0 in the region of Saturn. Each frame represents 5 minutes. Obviously the stationary ones are ...er... geostationary, but they appear to move relative to the stars! Heck, it's crowded up there, particularly at -7 degrees degrees south.

The program is Sky Safari Pro.

Well I didnt expect it to look so crowded!

Is their a simple explanation why they are mostly in our line of sight with Saturn? I understand they are a certain height, travelling at a certain speen to stay in GEO orbit with the rotation of earth.

I didnt know they all would be in a line.

[Viv]

Seriously, I don't think so. They're really, really, really not very interesting to look at. I mean, really boring, and a hindrance to decent images.

Would still like to see them though - tonight should be good for a couple of hours or so, after dark.

You just don't realise (most of us), the amount of man made stuff around .............

[lukebl]

Well I didnt expect it to look so crowded!

Is their a simple explanation why they are mostly in our line of sight with Saturn? I understand they are a certain height, travelling at a certain speen to stay in GEO orbit with the rotation of earth.

I didnt know they all would be in a line.

They are all in a line because they orbit above the equator, which provides the most stable orbit (the earth being an oblate spheroid, not a perfect sphere). They appear at around 7 degrees south for us in the UK due to parallax. If we were at the equator, they'd appear at 0 degrees (i.e. on the celestial equator), and if we were at an equivalent latitude south, they would appear at a declination of 7 degrees North. Saturn just happens to also be at a declination of 7 degrees south at the moment.

[faulksy]

so my coordinates were bang on then, happy days

[Nevy]

I was viewing Saturn a few hours ago and I saw what was described ,I saw it pass Saturn twice , I thought it was to slow to be satellites.

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