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SGL 2021 Challenge 1 - Satellites


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The theme for the first Challenge - February 2021 - is Satellite(s)!

Start Date: 1st February 2021
End Date: 30th April 2021

Any image that fits the theme ‘Satellite(s)’ will be accepted. We will use NASAs definition of a Satellite but are not looking for anything specific. It might be an artistic single frame, a ‘lucky shot’ or a highly planned, multi-night epic! The winning image will be whichever one the judges like best!

As previously the winner and runners up will receive an SGL challenge mug showing their image along with a virtual medal-of-honour for their SGL signature.

Please post entries directly into this thread

 

To keep the thread manageable for the judges please do not post comments about entries, emoji reactions are welcome of course.

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RULES

All data must be captured and processed by you (no collaborative entries). 
Data must be captured during the challenge start & end dates. 
Multiple entries are allowed but please make a fresh post within the thread.
Multiple submissions of the same image, processed differently, will not be accepted.

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I posted this in another area and a couple people mentioned that I should enter it here. I've never considered an asteroid a satellite but using NASA's very broad definition, just about anything can be considered a satellite. So here's my entry of an animation I created a couple days ago of the asteroid (4) Vesta in the constellation Leo.

 

Edited by SiriusDoggy
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Here's another entry in the satellite challenge for you folks to judge. This is part of a very long live virtual star party I was doing for a few people but I actually had this planned out. I had never seen the top secret U.S. Department of Defense X-37B unmanned shuttle before and noticed it was going to make a pass this evening.  I've linked to just the part of the video where I begin talking about the satellite a few minutes before the pass. If you care to jump straight to the satellite pass, there's a table of contents in the video description that will get you to about 10 seconds before the pass.

 

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On 12/02/2021 at 18:19, SiriusDoggy said:

Here's another entry in the satellite challenge for you folks to judge. This is part of a very long live virtual star party I was doing for a few people but I actually had this planned out. I had never seen the top secret U.S. Department of Defense X-37B unmanned shuttle before and noticed it was going to make a pass this evening.  I've linked to just the part of the video where I begin talking about the satellite a few minutes before the pass. If you care to jump straight to the satellite pass, there's a table of contents in the video description that will get you to about 10 seconds before the pass.

 

That's v cool - a drone shuttle!

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Here is my submission for the theme satellites

The title is Starlink, and shows the effect that the SpaceX starlink is having on our sky, astrophotography, and astronomy science. This data was only 1 hour long and taken on 10/02/21. I've processed and merged two images one where the satellite trails where removed from the stack and one where they were not.

Imagine how many subs we will have with satellite trails where there are 50,000+ of these in our sky

M31_starlink.thumb.png.139403d0d39aad202d79bf8155fe1a3f.png

Edited by festoon
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I'm new to the imaging game and here's another one of our satellite. 

Shot tonight at Prime focus with Celestron SLT 102 refractor and Sony Alpha SLT 65.

Shot 250 frames as ISO 200 at 1/500s. Stack of best 50 frames Autostakkert, wavelets in Registax. Further processing in Gimp and Aurora HDR.

Moon 2502-21 Final2.png

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At @happy-kat's suggestion in another thread, here's a lunar mosaic (3 panes).  Our most important satellite, notwithstanding Musk, Bezos & even the HST?

Telementor 2, ASI290MM, on a motor-modded Vixen SP mount.  Software used was FireCapture, then AS!3, then ImPPG, stitched in Lightroom, & then finished in GIMP.

I couldn't get as much magnification as H-K's earth shot above - dread to think the size of the scope and the focal length involved in getting that close!

(PS - apologies mods for misreading the guidelines & inadvertently posting feedback earlier in this thread on the amazing drone-shuttle footage further above, not sure how to delete that).

Moon 201027 merged-2_gimp.png

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Here's my entry, M31 under fire from all angles followed by a barrage from Starlink. Also includes the satellite galaxies M32 & M110, has an apparent size comparison between the galaxy and Moon, and shows how the rising Moon washes out the sky.

Timelapse details are in this thread.

Edited by Knight of Clear Skies
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Perhaps more to the artistic way of presentation this time, this is shot on 26th February, a composite of two images, 0.5 second exposure for the branches from a forest reserve and 1/1000 second for the Moon. The interval between the two shots is about 30 seconds, which I took to change the focus of the scope and mount tracking is on if I am not mistaken. The two images are then combined on PS with the opacity of the longer exposure image lowered followed by some brightness adjustments.

Branches Moon.jpg

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Here is my entry on the theme of Satellites. It is the radio reflections of the GRAVES transmission frequency (143.050 MHz) between 00:54 and 00:58 on 18-03-21. Guess how many individual reflection trails there are!! I call this a 'Murmuration of Starlinks'. The radio antenna is set up to capture meteor events and you can see that there are a few meteor reflections hiding behind the veil of radio frequency interference from the most recently launched train of satellites. Thankfully they do move into higher orbits and become less obtrusive, but my radio data (not to mention optical data) is constantly being bombed by Mr. Musk's addition to the constellations. 🤨

 

event20210318_005539_51-Murmuration.thumb.jpg.96288c4cd3527d575c200d551b206ca5.jpg

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Having planned this for over a month, I was delighted to have captured the ISS as it transited the moon tonight (21/03/2021). 

I used the webpage https://transit-finder.com/ to find where and when the ISS would transit the moon in a location which I could drive to. The afternoon was overcast, so my expectations were low. However as evening approached the moon was occasionally visible between clouds. So, I packed my stuff up during the day, drove to the planned location (Longstanton, Cambridgeshire), and set up. As the moment approached of the ISS transit, there was intermittent clouds, but luckily I could make it out on Sharpcap as it passed through. 

For this capture I used a Celestron C5 with an ASI385MC mounted on an AZ-GTi in eq mode. Data captured using Sharpcap with 5ms exposure and a gain of 142. I used SER Viewer to extract the relevant frames, then deconvolution in imgppg , then GIMP to create the GIF.

Today will be an imaging session I will never forget!

iss_A.thumb.gif.18baae825df38c413f1773de9fd0b23a.gif

Edited by festoon
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Following last nights "mobile" imaging session, i tried for a closer view of the ISS. I think i got pretty lucky with this capture, plenty of detail visible there going to have to try & find out what is on display.

Captured with my C9.25 SCT, Orion Atlas mount, with a ASI290mm

2065654812_2021-03-23-1921_8-L-ISS_f1346-CopyBESTVERSION.png.9a1df9071ba63566ee14efa8eac5a130.png

 

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Here's a couple of animations of passes of the International Space Station over my garden, on the 22nd and 23rd March.

I captured it by hand-tracking the scope using the viewfinder whist simultaneously clicking the shutter. At least with the size of the sensor on the DSLR, there's a fair chance that the target hits the sensor somewhere

These are comprised of around 56 frames over a period of about 2 minutes. Omegon RC8 (fl 1624mm), Canon 700d, 1/1000 sec exposures @ ISO 800. Gif manually stacked and created in Photoshop (very time-consuming).

At closest approach, the ISS was 467km distant on the 22nd, and 522km on the 23rd.

22nd March 2021:

51070590986_7e25c3cac9_o.gif

23rd March 2021:

51070688037_91371976d5_o.gif

Well, that's that last bit of astronomy (or gardening, or driving) for a few weeks for me, as I had surgery on my hand yesterday to treat Dupuytren's contracture, and won't be able to properly use my left hand for a few weeks. I was meant to go in last year to have it done, but it was postponed due to Covid, but they suddenly found an immediate vacancy. I naïvely thought it would be a quick half-hour procedure. However, it was 2 hours with painful tubes in my arteries to paralyse my arm, then 2 more hours fully conscious in the operating theatre whilst they cut open and then sewed up my hand. All just to straighten a couple of wonky fingers!  Currently intensely painful even with strong opiates and a dead arm.

Ah well, all praise to our awesome NHS!

Edited by lukebl
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The Moon and the ISS in the same frame, what could go wrong, sharing because every time I see it I smile.

Camera 1100d vintage 55mm lens f3.4 and as I thought we would see this and could use a support for the camera which was in manual mode 2 second exposure. Ah but the ISS and Moon where very high and not possible to support the camera as planned so turned out to be handheld as didn't think to video, that's Pollux too in the middle.

Two satellites, the Moon travelling at 0.635 miles/s and the ISS at 5 miles/s.

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