Can anyone identify the satellite i just saw??

[big_dav_2001 (Davin)]

Hey all

I was just out showing a friend a few things through my scope, and we spotted a very small but very bright flash to the North near Altair (specifically, about half a degree west of Tarazed) , It repeated a few times, and didn't appear to be moving a lot, so i tried pointing the scope at it.

Through a 42mm EP, i spotted an extremely small elongated object which would brighten slowly, flash brightly suddenly and fade again and become barely visible before repeating... from flash to flash was about 2 seconds.

Although it didn't appear to be moving naked eye, through the scope it showed it was moving slowly roughly WNW.... I followed it for about a minute or two, then decided to swap to a 24mm EP for a closer look and lost track of it, by that time the flashes had faded and i couldnt find it again.

Stellarium didnt show any satellites in the area at the time, so I tried looking on Heavens Above, but couldnt find anything there to explain what it was... It was obviously a satellite of some sort, but it would be great if i could put a name to it...

I thought it may have been too late in the night to be an Irridium Flare (i thought they were only seen shortly after sunset), and ive seen the ISS several times and i dont think thats what it was.. There was a visible ISS pass about an hour earlier, but that would have visible to the south of me and not in the area of what i spotted..

Whatever it was it was pretty amazing to see through the scope

My observing site is in Schofields, NSW and i logged the time of the sighting at approx 2150...

Any help much appreciated
Davin

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

From the sounds of it it could of been a tumbling iridium or possibly even Nano Sail-D if it's still up there.
I know calsky.com is useful for searching tumbling iridiums.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Dave, try http://www.calsky.com

I'm not that far from you and if your 21:50 is accurate +-5 min there are about 7 objects it could be.

After you crate a login and set up your location, use the "satellites->satellites with interval" page. Use the "Searching for satellites found within a certain area" link, set Tarazed as the target and some reasonable radius.
Redo the "satellites->satellites with interval" page setting the time and ticking the "Visible or not box", then "go"

[astroron (Ron)]

What you saw is probably what I call a flasher, they are Very high orbit rotating satellites.
There are literally thousands of objects out there operational and none operational.
There is a NASA site that you can get nearly all satellites andand space junk from.
Cheers

[big_dav_2001 (Davin)]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

Dave, try http://www.calsky.com

I'm not that far from you and if your 21:50 is accurate +-5 min there are about 7 objects it could be.

After you crate a login and set up your location, use the "satellites->satellites with interval" page. Use the "Searching for satellites found within a certain area" link, set Tarazed as the target and some reasonable radius.
Redo the "satellites->satellites with interval" page setting the time and ticking the "Visible or not box", then "go"

Awesome, thanks for the link...

From what i can figure out, 09029A is most likely what i saw as far as location, direction and frequency goes, but the time i saw it is inaccurate to their pass time by about an hour or so... Not sure why the difference, i logged the time as i was watching it so i could look it up... info here

Apparently 09029A is also known as Meridian 2 and is a Russian comms satellite launched in 2009...

Thanks again for the link and guide on how to use the site, ive tried to use Calsky before but gave up in frustration, your guide helped a lot.

Davin

[big_dav_2001 (Davin)]

Originally Posted by astroron

What you saw is probably what I call a flasher, they are Very high orbit rotating satellites.
There are literally thousands of objects out there operational and none operational.
There is a NASA site that you can get nearly all satellites andand space junk from.
Cheers

Flasher is a pretty accurate term for them, i couldnt believe how bright the flash was... what surprised me most was that it was moving slow enough to track with the scope.. i guess that would suggest that its at a pretty high altitude??..

Ive seen plenty of satellites before and most dont really intrigue me this much, but the flashing and lack of speed of this one really sparked my interest..hehe

Dav