Flaring geosynchronous satellite, 10 Aug 2013

[Rob_K]

Not something you'd capture every day I'd imagine, a flaring geosynchronous satellite! Caught this flare in the corner of a frame taken for comet P/2013 J2, situated near the Celestial Equator last night. The dim satellite trail showed in frames each side. In tracking on the stars, these satellites show as streaks - a quick calculation based on trail length v. exposure time confirmed that the apparent movement matched Earth's rotation rate. Animated gif here (haven't bothered to identify the satellite - time was centred around 10:41pm [UT+10] last night or 12:41, 10 Aug 2013 UT):
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww271/Rob_Kau/Satelliteflare10Aug2013textanimatio n.gif

Cheers -

[Dennis]

Nice animation and very well presented too. It's great to see these more out of the ordinary events.

Cheers

Dennis

[Lee]

Cool.... any target I do along that declination is usually littered with geosync satellite trails....

[Rob_K]

Thanks guys. :thumbsup:

Cheers -