I am very new to astronomy, and am currently researching my first telescope. I am probably going to get an Orion Skyquest XT10.
This is not why I am posting, however...
Last night I was taking a few long exposure shots with my Nikon D90 when I inadvertantly captured something interesting.
I was aiming at M42, but the clouds were rolling in from the east. As Orion disappeared behind the clouds, the only clear sky left was to the West, so I decided to take a few shots of what I believe is Jupiter (yes, I am green).
When I put the photos on my computer I noticed an object tracking in front of the planet. Can someone identify what it may be? Is it a satellite?
I took 6 x 6 second exposures, with a 6'ish second gap in between.
I will attempt to upload the Jpegs that I have, which have had the contrast and brightness altered for clarity. I would love for someone who knows how to work with .NEF images to make the most of these photos, as I know very little about photo manipulation.
I have only included the first and sixth photos, although the object tracks evenly throughout all six... These two photos are taken approximately 1 minute apart.
Hi Jason,
Welcome to IIS!
It was a satellite you captured.
I highly recommend you register with http://www.heavens-above.com/
It's a fantastic resource. You'll be able to keep track of when and where satellites, the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope pass over in your particular location. Also you can find out when to expect Iridium Flares too.
JJ I see no Satellite trails in my picture only extensions of Jupiter where are the satellite Trails
If it was a satellite it would not be in the image for 6 minutes
Cheers
so over two minutes then Jupiter would have moved half a degree. It could be a geostationary satellite except it wouldn't be training at all. What FL was the lens? At that position in the sky anything longer than about 100mm would show trailing at 6 sec.
To me it just looks like the drift in your photo of a star. there is a 9,2 star in a similar position.
Seems too big for an asteroid?
It is drifting in the same direction as the other stars in your pic .
and a Satellite would not be that big either?
Cheers
NOAA 16 passed close to Jupiter - 1 deg away - at about 22:14 (Melbourne time) last night. How close they were and at what time depends on your exact location.
The ISS pass was later - around 22:29 - and further from Jupiter.
Grab the latest version of Stellarium, put in your location as accurately as you can [F6] button, enable the "Satellites" plugin and restart.
[F3] type Jupiter <enter>
[F5] change the display date and time to when you took the photos.
You should see your satellite. This is what I got.
NOAA 16 passed close to Jupiter - 1 deg away - at about 22:14 (Melbourne time) last night. How close they were and at what time depends on your exact location.
The ISS pass was later - around 22:29 - and further from Jupiter.
Grab the latest version of Stellarium, put in your location as accurately as you can [F6] button, enable the "Satellites" plugin and restart.
[F3] type Jupiter <enter>
[F5] change the display date and time to when you took the photos.
You should see your satellite. This is what I got.
If it was a satalite wouldn't the track be much bigger seeing he took the pictures One Minute apart
As in my post before this it would be a Big Satellite
Cheers
Interesting object. So this is a tripod shot at 200mm, 2 min from first to last?
The apparent movement of the object is 36 arcminutes over that time. Given that 2 minutes is an approximation, this would be roughly 1 degree in 4 minutes. That is the magic apparent 'movement' for a geosynchronous satellite, against the stellar background - 360 deg in 24 hr. The celestial meridian goes just about right through Jupiter's position last night - fertile hunting grounds for geosynchronous satellites. It is definitely not an ordinary orbiting satellite.
But there are a couple of issues. Brightness - this is a very bright object, much brighter than a mag 4.9 star in the field. Maybe mag 2 or 3? Correct me someone if I'm wrong, but I don't think our GSSs get anywhere near that bright, viewed from Earth.??
And why does it appear to trail? A GSS will appear as a spot while the stars trail in fixed tripod shots. Your star trails are typical for a 6-sec shot at 200mm - I find trailing just becomes noticeable at about 5 sec. GSSs are in very high orbits - you would never get anything other than a spot no matter what shape they are. Interesting that your object is a tear-drop shape in each sub AND angled to the line of apparent movement, while the star trails are normal.
Putting my neck out, but I reckon it's an object like a plane or airship in geosynchronous (or near) orbit within our atmosphere. I know Lockheed has been working with an airship for insertion at 70,000 feet in a geosynchronous orbit. Hydrogen powered planes can continuously monitor single locations from stratospheric heights...
Will expect a knock at the door any minute, eeek...
Interesting object. So this is a tripod shot at 200mm, 2 min from first to last?
The apparent movement of the object is 36 arcminutes over that time. Given that 2 minutes is an approximation, this would be roughly 1 degree in 4 minutes. That is the magic apparent 'movement' for a geosynchronous satellite, against the stellar background - 360 deg in 24 hr. The celestial meridian goes just about right through Jupiter's position last night - fertile hunting grounds for geosynchronous satellites. It is definitely not an ordinary orbiting satellite.
But there are a couple of issues. Brightness - this is a very bright object, much brighter than a mag 4.9 star in the field. Maybe mag 2 or 3? Correct me someone if I'm wrong, but I don't think our GSSs get anywhere near that bright, viewed from Earth.??
And why does it appear to trail? A GSS will appear as a spot while the stars trail in fixed tripod shots. Your star trails are typical for a 6-sec shot at 200mm - I find trailing just becomes noticeable at about 5 sec. GSSs are in very high orbits - you would never get anything other than a spot no matter what shape they are. Interesting that your object is a tear-drop shape in each sub AND angled to the line of apparent movement, while the star trails are normal.
Putting my neck out, but I reckon it's an object like a plane or airship in geosynchronous (or near) orbit within our atmosphere. I know Lockheed has been working with an airship for insertion at 70,000 feet in a geosynchronous orbit. Hydrogen powered planes can continuously monitor single locations from stratospheric heights...
Will expect a knock at the door any minute, eeek...
Cheers -
Thanks for your post Rob
I just revisited the pictures , Now I see the whole picture
I now admit I don't know what it is
Cheers
Thanks for your post Rob
I just revisited the pictures , Now I see the whole picture
I now admit I don't know what it is
Cheers
Yep, me too Ron. But I did find this on geosynchronous satellites:
"Typically the satellite will be in the mag. +11 to +14 range (or dimmer), but brightening by several magnitudes when the geometry is favourable (around mag. +5 to +6 is not untypical). One satellite is reported to have briefly been visible to the naked eye at mag. +3 !" http://www.satobs.org/geosats.html
Jason's object is at least that bright. Brightest I've photographed would be about mag 7 or 8, from memory, always a dot - I mean, they're about 35,000 km away! So the shape of Jason's object & its orientation worries me, given that his focus appears to be absolutely spot on.
![[1ponders]'s Avatar](../vbiis/customavatars/avatar45_9.gif){kind=avatar}
where are the satellite Trails 
