Observing Satellites and Jets
Von Fourche
Hi all! I'm new to observing satellites in the sky. I had a question -
when I see a light at night move in the sky and it does not blink, is that a
good chance it's a satellite? Do all passenger aircraft have lights that
blink? I saw something move across the sky last night while I was
attempting to find a satellite. I don't think I saw the satellite but I did
see a non blinking light move across the sky. Since it was not blinking I
was wondering if what I saw was a satellite.
Also, In the mid-west - Indiana. Will I be able to observe satellites
that are suppose to be viewable to me around 9:30pm? Something like the
Lacrosse satellite?
Thanks
Patty Winter
In article <MridnRKxeuVWkRLX...@earthlink.com>,
Welcome, Von! Are you hooked on the hobby yet? :-)
>I had a question -
>when I see a light at night move in the sky and it does not blink, is that a
>good chance it's a satellite? Do all passenger aircraft have lights that
>blink?
They do, but if the plane is up high enough and still has its
landing lights on, it will be bright but you won't be able to
see its other lights.
>I saw something move across the sky last night while I was
>attempting to find a satellite. I don't think I saw the satellite but I did
>see a non blinking light move across the sky. Since it was not blinking I
>was wondering if what I saw was a satellite.
Could have been a plane, or a satellite other than the one you were
looking for. They move differently; you should start noticing the
difference soon.
> Also, In the mid-west - Indiana. Will I be able to observe satellites
>that are suppose to be viewable to me around 9:30pm? Something like the
>Lacrosse satellite?
I just checked tonight's predictions, and one of the Lacrosse
satellites should have been easily visible (magnitude 2.5) in
the Indianapolis area just after 9:00 p.m. tonight. Are you
using Heavens-Above to generate satellite pass information for
your exact area? Of course, which satellites you can see will
be limited by how bright the sky is in your area. I'm in a
suburban area, so conditions are pretty bad. :-(
Patty
Von Fourche
"Patty Winter" <pat...@wintertime.com> wrote in message
news:4a8f6296$0$1619$742e...@news.sonic.net...
>
> In article <MridnRKxeuVWkRLX...@earthlink.com>,
> Von Fourche <khon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all! I'm new to observing satellites in the sky.
>
> Welcome, Von! Are you hooked on the hobby yet? :-)
Yep. I went out tonight four times. Once I did not see anything. But
the three other times I spotting things in the air that did not blink, going
the general direction that showed on Heaven's Above, and appeared around the
time the were suppose to (give or take thirty seconds or so).
I could clearly tell that the jets had blinking lights. Also I can see
with binos dark outlines of the jets. But the three non-blinkers I have to
believe were satellites because - 1. They did not blink. 2. They were
heading in the general direction that showed on Heaven's Above. 3. They
appeared around the time they were suppose to appear.
Hmm, I thought finding satellites was extremely hard. Using Heaven's
Above and also a nice satellite application for my iTouch, it seems easy,
unless those three tings were jets and not satellites. lol.
Patty Winter
In article <-dKdnTbODrvH7BLX...@earthlink.com>,
Von Fourche <khon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hmm, I thought finding satellites was extremely hard. Using Heaven's
>Above and also a nice satellite application for my iTouch, it seems easy,
>unless those three tings were jets and not satellites. lol.
:-) I'll bet they were really satellites!
If you want to get up early, ISS is making some predawn passes
over the U.S. these days. In fact, it's so bright now that some
people have been able to see it during the day, as you probably
saw mentioned on Heavens-Above.
Next, we get you hooked on Iridium flares. :-)
Patty
Von Fourche
I stayed up all night Thursday night/Friday morning. I went out side
around 5:17am Friday morning and sure enough - I saw the ISS! It zoomed
across the northern sky really really fast.
Yep, I saw that article on Heavens-Above about seeing the ISS station
during the day. Are people really seeing it during the day?
Dan Minge
Heavens Above is great, but you can't go past Orbitron
which is free. Well, when I say free, it's actually 'cardware'
which means its author, Sebastan Stoff would like a post card
from you.
Go on. Download it and send him a postcard. He'll add you to his
postcard map. :-)
Minge
Von Fourche
"Dan Minge" <Daniel...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9kv1951dkjt3hf1ok...@4ax.com...
I downloaded it but don't have time to play with it for a few day. I do
like Heavens-above maps of the constellations. That's how I've been able to
find the satellites - Little Dipper, Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, etc...
Von Fourche
How do I get it to give me future sighting of the ISS? I can get other
satellites but not the ISS for some reason. I really can't explore it till
later this week.
Dan Minge
<khon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Easy. There's an excellent prediction mode you can go into. It will
display the times ISS or any other satellite you choose is overhead.
Couldn't do without it.
Orbitron is undoubtedly the best free tracker on the market.
Minge
Von Fourche
Hmm, I can get predictions for there satellites but not the ISS. I must
be doing something wrong.
Dan Minge
<khon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Make sure the little box to the left of ISS is ticked, then select
'prediction'
In prediction setup, you can select the number of days you want to
predict. I have mine set to 20 days, though the elements will be
somewhat out of date when that period elapses.
Minge
Von Fourche
Is the space station ISS or ISS1? I see a ISS and an ISS1. I can get
predictions for ISS1 but not the ISS. I will have time to mess with it more
tomorrow night.
Thanks!
Dan Minge
<khon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Don't know what ISS1 is. Not in my elements list. Maybe someone else
in here does.
The Space Station is ISS
Minge
Von Fourche
Finally got it updated. Found out how to update those Tll files or
whatever they are. Thanks!
Dan Minge
<khon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>"Dan Minge" <Daniel...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:aid9955e9bjreofvb...@4ax.com...
>> On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:54:02 -0400, "Von Fourche"
>> <khon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Don't know what ISS1 is. Not in my elements list. Maybe someone else
>> in here does.
>>
>
>
>
> Finally got it updated. Found out how to update those Tll files or
>whatever they are. Thanks!
>
Great stuff. I like using the radar map so that I can get an
overhead view outside.
Minge