R.A and Dec conversions

[Desmond]

Hi all,

I am trying to track the Prospero satellite as it passes near me.

From the website I get information in a format different to my mount and I am struggling to understand how to convert from one to the other.

The website information is as follows:

 

I wish to hit it at the max altitude so I have Az=NE59 and EL=14

So for this example, what would I enter into my mount that asks for the details below:

Thanks in advance

[Davey-T]

If your mount is capable of it you can enter what they call the three line ephemerides into the handset then when run it should follow a satellite across the sky, in some setups you can enter stuff like AOS ( acquisition of signal ) and LOS ( loss of signal ) 

Is there a specific satellite setting in the mount menu ?

Dave

Edited January 4, 2021 by Davey-T

[Desmond]

7 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

If your mount is capable of it you can enter what they call the three line ephemerides into the handset then when run it should follow a satellite across the sky, in some setups you can enter stuff like AOS ( acquisition of signal ) and LOS ( loss of signal ) 

Is there a specific satellite setting in the mount menu ?

Dave

No specific satellite setting that I know of. It's a Skywatcher AZ-GTi mount that I can run in EQ or AZ mode.

[Davey-T]

If you log onto the Heavens Above site  Heavens-Above (heavens-above.com) put in your location and do a search of the satellite database you can get a list of visible Pospero passes and a sky view of its orbit to see where it will be in the sky, this is what I do for imaging the ISS by selecting a star it will pass close to on it's flyover then lying in wait until it appears in the guide scope and firing off high speed images hoping to catch it.

Visible satellite passes are also shown in Stellarium.

Dave

[Waddensky]

It's not that difficult to convert from horizontal to equatorial coordinates, and can easily be done in an Excel sheet. You do need the siderial time for your longitude, though.

Here's an example.

[Desmond]

21 hours ago, Davey-T said:

If you log onto the Heavens Above site  Heavens-Above (heavens-above.com) put in your location and do a search of the satellite database you can get a list of visible Pospero passes and a sky view of its orbit to see where it will be in the sky, this is what I do for imaging the ISS by selecting a star it will pass close to on it's flyover then lying in wait until it appears in the guide scope and firing off high speed images hoping to catch it.

Visible satellite passes are also shown in Stellarium.

Dave

I like this method Dave as the mathematical solution is not so simple for me

👍