Newbie mystery

[Paulie]

Hi guys I am new to the forum and have had an interest in star gazing for sometime now. I dont have a telescope but often stand in the garden looking at the stars on clear evenings. I live on the edge of Bodmin Moor so light pollution is quite low. Last Thursday evening I was in my field just after putting my horses in the stable for the night and looked up to see what looked like an aircraft. It was about 19.40 hrs and what I saw was a bright white light but this was strange as the light was facing me but going away from me. The light was like the landing lights on an aircraft but it couldnt have been an aircraft as as I have said the white light was travelling away from me and there were no green or red flashing tail or wing lights. Also the light made no noise which if it was an aircraft you would have heard as it is very quiet out here at night. I would say that the light was travelling around the same speed as an aircraft. Could this have been a satellite? Or does someone have any idea what it could have been?

I have never seen anything like this and the only other thing was the light disapeared once it was at about 45 degrees from overhead.

[insomnia]

The most likely candidate would be that you saw the International space station

[Iris]

Hi Paulie, welcome to SGL.

You didn't say what direction you were facing but from your description of the behaviour and brightness of the object I would suggest that you saw the International Space Station which ought to have been visible in a southern direction from where you are at around that time.

I have only just had the pleasure of a few recent views of it myself for the first time and it is quite a sight. In my case it was as bright as Mars and appeared bigger.

Alternatively it could have been a satellite though they are not nearly as bright usually unless you catch one of the Iridium satellites flaring.

My money is on the ISS.

[jgs001]

Paulie, welcome to SGL... Sounds like you have a lovely location for viewing from there. I'd guess it was probably the ISS passing over. It's pretty bright and moves quite quickly. Do you recall what direction (roughly) you were facing ? You should be able to check by registering on Heavens-Above Home Page, putting in your location (Lat and Long can be got from multimap) and checking the date and time in question.

The disappearance would be the station passing into the Earths shadow.

Unless of course it was a very short (<30 seconds) sighting, in which case it may have been a satellite (Iridium) flare. That's when a reflective panel bounces sunlight back to us from orbit... they tend to be of short duration as it's only at the moment of ideal alignment do you see the reflection.

[Paulie]

Thanks for the prompt response guys the light was travelling roughly West to East and its difficult to remember how long it was visible for but I would suggest about 2 to 3 minutes. The light was very bright but quite high up.

The reason I am fairly sure it wasnt an aircraft is that it was definately higher than 10,000 feet and they dont turn landing lights on until they are below this height (neither do they have reverse gears . Also the only airport near us is Plymouth airport and is about 24 miles away. At Plymouth they only tend to have dash 8's or non jet aircraft landing at this airport and you certainly hear propeller type aircraft at 10,000 feet.

[Doc]

West to East and 3 minute duration sounds llike the ISS to me.

Btw Welcome to SGL

[jgs001]

Yeah... the ISS.

[adamsp123]

Got to be the ISS

[Cornelius Varley]

It sounds like a description of the ISS but the timing is wrong by about 30mins. There was a pass of the UK on 11 March 2010 at approx 19.05 - 19.10 (mag -3.3) and then a shorter one at 20.40 - 20.42 (mag -1.1)

Peter

[Paulie]

Cool thats amazing I didnt think it would be that bright. I have just had a look on heavens above as recommended by John and the time fits in with the time I was going back to the house. Thanks Guys.

I intend purchasing a telescope shortly and would be pleased to get some hlep from the forum as to what to purchase. I did look on here a couple of months ago and it was recommended to purchase a Skywatcher from First Light optics. My wife bought me a National Geographic telescope from Argos but it looked like it had been opened before and didnt have a manual. So the first thing I did was check for reviews on the internet and after reading a few took it straight back!

I need something around the £150 mark to start off with and then see how I go on with that. I have a pair of bins that I watch aircraft through and often look at the night sky through those. They are 10x50 magnification and I wonder how much more would I see with a scope such as the Skywatcher skyhawk or similar?

Regards

Paulie

PS if anyone lives near me I would be more than happy to let them use my field to stargaze one evening.

[skye at night]

Got to be the ISS

unless it was a UFO.

Steve

[Paulie]

Sorry Peter I got my days wrong it was Friday the 12th March as my wife had a friend round for dinner and I did the horses on my own that night.

[jgs001]

Paulie, Probably worth starting a new thread on what scope... or give Steve or James a call at FLO... However, for visual use, it's worth looking at the Skywatcher Dobsonion scopes... very simple to use. The 150 appears to have gone up in price to £180 since I last looked, but it was a while ago ...

Dobsonians

[Paulie]

Thanks John, what is the advantage of a dobsonian scope over the other ones I mentioned?

Regards

Paul

[Cornelius Varley]

Thanks John, what is the advantage of a dobsonian scope over the other ones I mentioned?

Regards

Paul

Dobsonian mounted telescopes are alot easier to set up. Find a piece a flat ground, place base on flat ground, place telescope on base, job done. No messing with polar alignment or star alignment either. Pound for pound they are the best value telescope you can buy.

The ISS passed over the UK at about 19.55 on the Friday so it probably was the ISS.

Peter

[Capricorn]

A dobsonian is a newtonian reflector on a dobsonian mount. The mount is relatively easy and inexpensive to make. So a bigger proportion of the money you have can be spent on the scope bit.

Like all things there are pro's and con's.

The con is that you have to point it at whatever it is you want to see, and it isn't always easy to get what you want in the field of view. No use not seeing anything for the first month and getting frustrated - hence the easy to use.

Also all newtonians, on a tripod or dob base need collimating, so budget in a collimator.

A first scope is always a compromise. You want something easy to use and everyone wants it as big as possible.

[Cornelius Varley]

A dobsonian is a newtonian reflector on a dobsonian mount. The mount is relatively easy and inexpensive to make. So a bigger proportion of the money you have can be spent on the scope bit.

Like all things there are pro's and con's.

The con is that you have to point it at whatever it is you want to see, and it isn't always easy to get what you want in the field of view. No use not seeing anything for the first month and getting frustrated - hence the easy to use.

Also all newtonians, on a tripod or dob base need collimating, so budget in a collimator.

A first scope is always a compromise. You want something easy to use and everyone wants it as big as possible.

That could also be said of equatorial mounts if you don't know how to use one.

Peter

[brantuk]

Yup - the ISS I reckon - the half hour lag was probably due to the time difference between Bodmin moor and Redditch lol

But joking aside - go for a reputable make like Skywatcher, max aperture for your price bracket - newts are favourable wether on a dob base or eq mount - don't go for fancy gps or goto cos this will take away from the all important optics - and budget in a collimator and eye pieces (e/p's supplied with the scope are usually basic at that price). You can allways add tracking quite cheaply at a later date (which will need battery power).

Welcome to the group and hope that helps

[Paulie]

Thanks Brantuk, I saw the ISS again tonight but it was very faint and low in the sky. When I saw it last Friday it was extremly bright.

I thought because it said on Heavens Above that the magnitude was -1 then it would be very bright but obviously I havent got this magnitude thing right

I dont think it is visible now in the next couple of weeks but I will be interested to look for it again as I think its great! The sky this evening here is absolutely beautiful. I need a to buy a scope quickly

I have been viewing through the bins but the only thing you can see better is the moon!

[Astro_Baby]

It can be enormously bright - I saw it when I was in Egypt about 2 years ago. The sky was clear, dusk was coming down and there was this bright light. At first I assumed Jupiter or Venus - didn'y have a planisphere with me so that was a kind of guess then I noticed it was moving and quite fast too so I reckoned the ISS.

I borrowed some binos off a nice guy who was standing around and had a peek and yup - it was the ISS - you could just about make out a stick shape with some sticks poking out (its solar panels). The binos owner nearly fell over when I gave him the binos back so he could have a look too - he literally couldnt believe his eyes and bought me a gin and tonic as a thankyou It was around for maybe 10 - 12 minutes.

It didnt look at all with the eyes as I would have expected - much brighter and much faster moving like a high altitude aircraft. Which I suppose when you think about it is exactly what it is.