Was it a meteor or plane

[smith-the-dog]

I'm new to astronomy.

But earlier tonight whilst looking at orion belt, (with my 10x50 bins) I noticed a super fast object moving East across the night sky...

I often see planes and helicopters but this zoomed across the night sky....

I managed to follow it through my binoculars but lost it ...

Any ideas peer's

It was of lowish magnitude. .

[PhotoGav]

Was it a steady point of light, not flashing? If so, I would say it was a satellite. It's amazing how busy it is up there...!

[gooseholla]

Meteors usually disappear pretty quickly. They appear to flash and streak across the sky in a split second or two. I'd say it was a satellite.

John

[Steve Ward]

Lots of satellites in an orbit that takes them across "the Belt" , ask any imager ... 

[Vox45]

I'm new to astronomy.

But earlier tonight whilst looking at orion belt, (with my 10x50 bins) I noticed a super fast object moving East across the night sky...

I often see planes and helicopters but this zoomed across the night sky....

I managed to follow it through my binoculars but lost it ...

Any ideas peer's

It was of lowish magnitude. .

I you noted down the time and date of your seeing you can use stellarium to go back in time and point to where you were looking at. Remember to activate the satellite plugin first The ISS will also be shown.

[smith-the-dog]

Hey, thanks all...sorry for late reply. I am new to SL and didn't get any notifications.

But a satellite sounds like a perfect answer. I didn't even know we could see them. Well happy now!

It was definitely too fast for an aircraft and real high.spooked me a little bit..lol

Thanks again..

[Roy Challen]

I you noted down the time and date of your seeing you can use stellarium to go back in time and point to where you were looking at. Remember to activate the satellite plugin first The ISS will also be shown.

You could check, but I noticed that Stellarium isn't always 100% accurate (possibly due to inacurracies regarding location). I noted a lunar occulatation the other night (HIP 28348 A - a mag 7.9 star) as occuring at exactly 20.08.02hrs. Stellarium said it occurred nearly two minutes later! I checked my watch and it was accurate to within two seconds so the error wasn't me!

[Vox45]

You could check, but I noticed that Stellarium isn't always 100% accurate (possibly due to inacurracies regarding location). I noted a lunar occulatation the other night (HIP 28348 A - a mag 7.9 star) as occuring at exactly 20.08.02hrs. Stellarium said it occurred nearly two minutes later! I checked my watch and it was accurate to within two seconds so the error wasn't me!

yes but for satellite you get the path drawn out before it actually pass through a certain point. So that should be enough to rule out a satellite even if it's 10 minutes off. No need for an atomic clock there

[BobSki]

could it have been the ISS?

[Mrlangston]

ISS is very bright so was probably one of the many discarded rockets that are up there!

I use www.heavens-above.com for tracking satellites and finding out what they are as I find it easier then Stellarium if you are out and about.

Michael

[ghostdance]

could it have been the ISS?

ISS is a beautiful sight naked-eye, but it's definitely not fast - pretty slow and graceful. Tho it may be fast across an eyepiece fov, you'll still see it when you take your eye away from the scope, assuming it's not at the end of its, um, arc of visibilty, of course....

[Anthonyw85]

I have spotted to Satellites week after never spotting any. Always when Jupiter is south and I'm targeting it. Orangey non flashing streak quick but was able to track if a fair while once and the 2nd was naked eye.