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Satellites??

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cq0

cq0

Skilled Investigator
Does anyone here know anything about satellites? I have these Night Vision Goggles when I'm outside skywatching. Yesterday I saw this really fast satellite, it crossed the sky in like 1 min from one edge of the horizon to the other, is this normal?? I have only seen slower satellites before, or was this something else?
 
I know nothing about satellites, so I can't say. I had a friend who was very into astronomy and skywatching though, and we've seen stuff like that which he explains as occasionally you can see things like the ISS or space shuttle, which move very fast across the sky but look no different than satellites, except for their faster movement.
 
cq0 said:
Does anyone here know anything about satellites? I have these Night Vision Goggles when I'm outside skywatching. Yesterday I saw this really fast satellite, it crossed the sky in like 1 min from one edge of the horizon to the other, is this normal?? I have only seen slower satellites before, or was this something else?
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Would you share the exact time of day and at least the city you were in? I have some software that might help.

I have seen the ISS many times (and other smaller artificial satellites). It takes a few minutes for the ISS to cross from horizon to horizon.

Most (all?) of these sightings take place near dawn or dusk when the sky is darkish, but the satellite itself is still illuminated by the sun because of its altitude.

The ISS is surely responsible for many UFO reports.
 
fitzbew88 said:
Would you share the exact time of day and at least the city you were in? I have some software that might help.

I have seen the ISS many times (and other smaller artificial satellites). It takes a few minutes for the ISS to cross from horizon to horizon.

Most (all?) of these sightings take place near dawn or dusk when the sky is darkish, but the satellite itself is still illuminated by the sun because of its altitude.

The ISS is surely responsible for many UFO reports.
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Yes sure it was the 12/3 and the time was 21,15 GMT and it was in the south.... in Kristianstan Sweden... I wonder if this was iss ;D would be nice if you checked it for me :p
 
Sounds about right. You have to keep in mind that what you're seeing locally is not the totality of the sky but only a really small segment of it, so "horizon to horizon" isn't actually that far.
 
This is 10:15pm local time, correct?

It appears the METOP-A satellite passed over you about that time, and it was pretty bright: apparent magnitude of 1.37.

The ISS was far below the horizon at that point.
 
cq0 said:
What software do you use?
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Starry Night 5.x.

But the Heavens-Above web site will allow you to do similar things for free. (Starry Night is not free.)

I don't think Heavens Above will let you look "backward" though...only predict future sightings at a known location.

Nonetheless, there are probably other web sites out there that may provide historical services, I have no knowledge of them.
 
I have Starry Night Pro 5 but i didnt find any ;( what ever ;D

Im sure it just was some satellite...
 
cq0 said:
I have Starry Night Pro 5 but i didnt find any ;( what ever ;D
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That's perplexing. Was I correct about the local time? (10:15pm) My understanding is you are +1 hour GMT. So at 21:15pm GMT, your local time is 22:15pm. If I am wrong about this, I apologize for my blunder.

Have you downloaded the latest satellite data for Starry Night? If we have the same data, I can't imagine why it's not showing up.
 
This is how a potential sighting should be handled. This fellow knows the time, date and location of his sighting, and doesn't automatically assume it's a Cardassian cruiser he saw. And helpful folks are here to assist him in possibly identifying what he saw.

Splendid!
 
Can someone explain why satellites seem to skip and have variable speed? Or is that just an illusion?

I starwatch every week and can count 3-4 in around 20 minutes. Sometimes the light catches them at a better angle and they appear much larger than normal until they move away, which made me think of UFOs the first time I saw them.
 
Yes you were right with the time, and you were right again. When i updated starry night the sattelite was visible, and it seems like its the right one ;D
 
Men Around Screen said:
Can someone explain why satellites seem to skip and have variable speed? Or is that just an illusion?

I starwatch every week and can count 3-4 in around 20 minutes. Sometimes the light catches them at a better angle and they appear much larger than normal until they move away, which made me think of UFOs the first time I saw them.
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I was so happy the first time i saw one of these, i though i saw a space ship, but i was like 10 when i saw it the first time.
 
cq0 said:
Yes you were right with the time, and you were right again. When i updated starry night the sattelite was visible, and it seems like its the right one ;D
Click to expand...

That's delightful news! It's nice to feel a sense of "closure" on such matters, is it not?

Hopefully, your next sighting will turn out to be more mysterious! :-)
 
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