Mystery Satellite

[DeepSkyBagger]

This morning (03/07/2018), as I was beginning to pack up after a good session, I saw a really bright satellite. It was maybe 5 or 10 degrees NW of Mars, and brightened to equal or surpass it in brightness, over the course of twenty seconds or so.

The time was 0214UT and my location is close to 53.57N 2.56W.

It wasn't an Iridium flare - it took too long and I've checked the predictions. The only other thought I had was the ISS, but this object seemed to be travelling N-S, ie in a highly inclined or polar orbit. 

Does anyone know of a site where I can look up possibilities?

Ta.

[JamesF]

Stellarium can display satellite tracks.  Might be worth a try?

James

[DeepSkyBagger]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't have it. It always crashes on my PC, so I dumped it.

[Wiu-Wiu]

https://www.calsky.com/cs.cgi/Satellites/6?

Put in your observation address, timeframe, set it to 1 minute, check the brightness settings, and let it calculate. It should give you a fair idea of what was passing there that time.

[celestron8g8]

You can go to  https://heavens-above.com/main.aspx  and find out info on all sattelites , the ISS and many other things . It’s free to register which is best cause that way you can put in your location and it will be exactly from your location . It shows precise times , paths and location of travel on many things . 

[DeepSkyBagger]

Thank you both. The mystery deepens. Neither website can find anything like what I saw. I even took a quick snap with my camera (not an astro camera, just a normal pocket one). Mars was 13.4 degrees altitude and 179 degrees azimuth at the time. My rough guess is that this object was roughly 16 degrees altitude and 182 degrees azimuth. The magnitude peaked at about -2.5.

The sun was 9 degrees below the horizon at the time. I'm not sure how high an aircraft would have to be to catch the light.

The photo is pretty grotty, being handheld, but it shows the object (dimmer by the time I took the pic) to the NW of Mars.

[david_taurus83]

Spy satellites probably won't show up on any software...

[Mr_Simnock]

Good point about spy satellites, also it could be part of a rocket from a previous launch. I don't think Iv'e ever used a satellite tracking web site that has been totally comprehensive, there are always quite sizable gaps in their databases.

[celestron8g8]

I think i may know what your satellite was . The US Airforce has had a secret plane flying in orbit since last September . There is a story about it on www.spaceweather.com today . If you miss it today just reset the archive for July 6th . They have a video showing it flying past Arcturus .