Can someone tell me what I saw?

[Dog Star (Phil)]

Tuesday night (16/12/08) I had the dob out for a bit of a waltz and was generally enjoying myself.
Was admiring 47 Tucanae (as I often do) with a 15mm ep in my 12" 1500 mm dob giving a 100x view at about 10:30 pm CST.
As I was looking at it I noticed a VERY faint (not experienced enough to give a magnitude rating, but it was BLOODY faint) object passing from roughly ESE - WSW. Tracked it for maybe 15-20 degrees until I lost sight of it.
It moved at roughly the same speed as a sattelite, which is what I assumed it was, although maybe a very small one, maybe even just a bit of debris.
Thinking about it the next day however, I couldn't understand how I could be seeing a sattelite at 10:30 at night given that the Sun had set around 7:50. What was illuminating it?
It wasn't a meteor (didn't break up or flare), it wasn't a comet (moving too fast and was just a single point of light).
There my speculation ends.
I'm still thinking that it was a bit of space debris but I don't understand how I was able to observe it, if that is what it really was.
I've been thinking about it ever since and I'm damned if I can explain it with my limited understanding.
I'm sure that there is a simple explaination for it, but my simple mind can't come up with the goods.
Can anyone help?

[erick (Eric)]

How long after sunset? Only a few hours I think. I'm not surprised. Check out Heavens Above and see how many objects still do catch the sun well after sunset and well before sunrise. I recall the International Space Station traversing much of the sky before entering shadow and this was quite a dark sky - some hours after sunset and it is in a relatively low orbit if I recall correctly. Also, objects passing in more polar orbits are obviously going to hit sunlight as they head towards the SCP.

Your "lost sight of it" might have been it passing into the earth's shadow?

[Dog Star (Phil)]

Thanks for the reply Eric.
You're probably/certainly) right.
It was just so small and dim.
It's speed and behaviour was just like a sattelite, so I'm guessing that that's what it was.
I've never seen one so late at night before and I didn't realize that the "angle of the dangle" could illuminate a sattelite at that hour.
You learn something new every day, depending on how stupid you are when you wake up.Thanks mate!

[ngcles]

Hi Dog star,

Yep, I'd bet London to a brick it was a satellite and faint ones that are more often than not in distant orbits are very often seen for many hrs after sunset in the eyepiece.

10.30pm is, after all, only 2.5 hrs after sunset these days ...

Best,

Les D

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

I've noticed that around this time of year, close to the summer solstice and with the sun so far south its not uncommon to see satellites most of the night, including after 11pm (non-daylight savings time), with only a bit of hole around midnight.

[Dog Star (Phil)]

I KNEW I'd feel thick if I posted this, but I'd rather feel thick and learn as opposed to feeling thick and not knowing.
Thanks for your replies people.
You can all regard this as a part of your contribution to the IYA.
Thanks again.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Phil,

It could have been Iridium 84 at 10:08 PM.

Regards,
Humayun

[mozzie (Peter)]

hi phill yes it was a satellite i was observing 47tuc and it went right through the centre of it and my eye piece lifting my head to see it then go into earths shadow great sight while observing or are we alone in this vast universe
peter

[Dog Star (Phil)]

Fascinating!
Wonder what the odds are of 2 scopes pointed in the same direction at the same time?
Nice to get a confirmation though.
Thanks Pete.

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Originally Posted by Dog Star

Fascinating!
Wonder what the odds are of 2 scopes pointed in the same direction at the same time?
Nice to get a confirmation though.
Thanks Pete.

Happens oftener than you might think. My first go at the LMC a satellite went through the first frame from corner to corner. JohnG, who is a couple of K's away from me, got almost the same pic.

Bill

[circumpolar (Matt)]

Maybe the ISS Toolbag.

[rider]

Originally Posted by Dog Star

Fascinating!
Wonder what the odds are of 2 scopes pointed in the same direction at the same time?
Nice to get a confirmation though.
Thanks Pete.

make that 3

I had just centered the scope with the finderscope, looked in the Eye Piece, and saw one of the stars move out of the glob! I was a bit non-plussed until I realised that the satellite must have been dead-center in Tuk when I started looking.

Rider

[jungle11 (Greg)]

Originally Posted by circumpolar

Maybe the ISS Toolbag.

Hehe.. What was that worth..100k? Poor fella must've got a chewing over that

[Dog Star (Phil)]

Originally Posted by rider

make that 3

I had just centered the scope with the finderscope, looked in the Eye Piece, and saw one of the stars move out of the glob! I was a bit non-plussed until I realised that the satellite must have been dead-center in Tuk when I started looking.

Rider

Three of us eh? For some strange reason, that tickles the bejesus out of me.
47 Tuc was certainly popular that night at that particular time.
Wonder if we can make it 4?
We could call ourselves The Satellite Brothers of 47 Tucanae or somesuch.

[Dog Star (Phil)]

Dammit!
I've only just realised what was really going on.
Three wise(?) men, studying a moving star at around Christmas time?
We've GOT to find out where that damn thing came to rest!
History beckons us.