space stations????

[koolam]

Hi ,have been seeing strange moving stars recently they are quite bright and move fairly quick then just fade away,have even seen what looks like a pair moving at the same time,am I right thinking they are satellites or even space stations? Couldn't imagine they could be anything else,,,,cheers

[Schorhr]

Hello Koolam,

they are most likely satellites, more rarely the ISS;

stellarium and a few phone apps help you track ans identify them :-)

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi koolam, and welcome to SGL.

As Schorhr has said, they are most likely sattelites (the brighter ones are possibly members of the 'Iridium' family) and the ISS. If you have a smartphone, I recommend 'ISS Tracker'.

Are you or near the flightpath for BHX? - just don't use a green laser!

[kerrylewis]

Try the website Heavens Above. You can enter your location and all the details of visible satellites will come up

[ronin]

They will be satellites, quite a lot of them going round us, as in several thousand. Most will be small orange/yellow dots. The ISS when it goes over is very bright and somewhat larger - check heavens-above for that to come into view.

Heavens Above also lists the Iridium flares. One these the panels are at the right angle to reflect the sun as a mirror does and you see a brief flare, usually 5-12 seconds. You need to enter your location as the possibility of viewing one is dependant on where you are, the flare are visible in a narrow band. Good fun on a clear night to watch. Think there is a bright one here tonight just before 19:00. It also looks like a cover of cloud.

The satellites can appear and disappear. The enter or leave the earths shadow and so can seem to pop in or out of existance. They can orbit in groups, so at times more then one will be travelling in view. No idea why they are put into orbits for this.

Sites worth looking at are Heavens-Above and Calsky. There are others, I cannot get on with Calsky, always seem that it decides where it thinks I am and not any location I tell it.

[keithatrochdale]

If you had two, one following the other it could well have been the ISS and a supply ship, either docking or undocking.

[AndyWB]

Hi ,have been seeing strange moving stars recently they are quite bright and move fairly quick then just fade away,have even seen what looks like a pair moving at the same time,am I right thinking they are satellites or even space stations? Couldn't imagine they could be anything else,,,,cheers

There was a thread about this before (I remember 'cos I'd seen a pair of bright satellites pass too) : http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/177800-satellites/

The suggestion was that is was NOSS: http://www.satobs.org/noss.html

Apparently some satellites do move in formation - as do some rocket fragments...

[koolam]

Wow ,thanks for the feedback ,very interesting stuff,will defo check those sites out!!!!!