Satellite or Meteor?

[jimbooz]

Hi folks

I had my second light on Friday with my 8" dob and as I was trying to locate M35, a brightish,small object passed across the fov. It took about a second to cross the fov of 10mm ep. It happened again later in the evening. My hunch is they were satellites but am wondering if anyone can help? Are they rare occurences?

Jim

PS I think I found M35. I saw a large star cluster but was expecting some nebula type object.

[dtr42]

with an 8" you will see the globular cluster but no nebulosity in m35. try m42 and you'll see the nebulosity there with your scope

[jimbooz]

I'd had a good look at M42 and it looked amazing. I could see the four stars clearly in the centre of the nebula. I tried to find M1 as well to no avail. More research into what the DSOs look like would probably be the way forward. I've got Turn Left at Orion, any other suggested reading?

[dtr42]

turn left at orion is excellent i also found nightwatch was a decent read when i started [got mine second hand from a charity shop for £1 ] the trapesium is great to look at [sometimes you can see 5-6 stars depending on what scope and how clear sky you have [the extra stars are mag 11 so do able in a 10" [ i have seen 5 in the trapesium but not 6 stars ] m1 is a very faint patch just about do able on the 8" in city lp but easy in dark sky area tbh i wasnt impressed .jost a faint smudge is all i see in the 10" , andromeda for example and m13 and m92 in hercules in the east early am at the moment are very nice to look at also m45 and m51 if you have decent skies , good luck

[Neil_F]

To answer Jimbooz's question, I would say it could well have been a satellite, they are a pretty common sight in the night sky. I normally see a couple each evening going south to north, I haven't seen too many meteors this year so far. ANd of course, the ISS is pretty spectacular to see going overhead too. It's at a bit too low a latitude during the winter to see properly, but in the summer it's more or less directly overhead.

[jimbooz]

Thanks Neil. I didn't realise satellites were so commonly seen.