· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article    Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Cloudy Nights - Official Forums of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu.... uh, User   You are not logged in. [Login] Forum Archives · Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar International Year of Astronomy 2009 >> National and Regional Activities Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | (show all) Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Re: Sept 2nd = 10 New Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3313045 - 09/03/09 02:09 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Last night, CASTOR grabbed another 10 satellites, mainly old Russian SL-8 rockets and the 400kg German CHAMP satellite. This brings the grand total to 2,841 satellites. Only 159 satellites to go before reaching the great 3,000!!! The adventure continues tonight! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Sept 3rd = 9 New Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3314887 - 09/04/09 12:44 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Last night, CASTOR grabbed another 9 satellites; Russian SL-8, SL-14, SL-16 and SL-24 rockets and 3 American Iridium satellites. This brings the grand total to 2,850 satellites. Only 150 satellites to go before reaching the great 3,000!!! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Sept 4th = 9 New Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3317041 - 09/05/09 01:59 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Last night, CASTOR grabbed another 9 satellites; mainly Iridium satellites and a new American GPS satellite. This brings the grand total to 2,859 satellites. Only 141 satellites to go before reaching the great 3,000!!! The adventure continues tonight; the sixth night of clear skies in a row! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Re: Sept 5th = 9 New Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3318422 - 09/06/09 12:17 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Last night, CASTOR grabbed another 9 satellites; mostly inactive classified American geosynchronous satellites. This brings the grand total to 2,868 satellites. Only 132 satellites to go before reaching the great 3,000!!! The adventure continues tonight; the seventh straight night of clear skies! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Sept 6th = 10 New Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3320406 - 09/07/09 02:11 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Last night, CASTOR grabbed another 10 satellites; mainly Russian Cosmos satellites, SL-8 rockets and American Iridium satellites. The last object of the night was the French SPOT 5 Earth imaging satellite. This brings the grand total to 2,878 satellites. Only 122 satellites to go before reaching the great 3,000 and 175 satellites to go before reaching the IYA 1,000 goal!!! So far in this month of September, CASTOR has detected 57 satellites: 68% of the month's quota of 83 satellites. If the adventure continues tonight, it will be the eighth straight night of clear skies! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Re: Sept 7th = 8 New Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3324215 - 09/09/09 02:04 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Last night, CASTOR grabbed another 8 satellites; mainly Russian and American satellites of history, including the American Radiation Sat, launched in 1963, and the Russian naval search and rescue satellite Nadezhda 1, launched in 1989. This brings the grand total to 2,886 satellites. Only 114 satellites to go before reaching the great 3,000 and 167 satellites to go before reaching the IYA 1,000 goal!!! So far in this month of September, CASTOR has detected 65 satellites: 78% of the month's quota of 83 satellites. The adventure continues tonight! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada 2,900 Satellite Mark Imminent [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3326108 - 09/10/09 01:41 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Last night, CASTOR grabbed another 10 satellites; mainly Russian Cosmos payloads (of which there are many) and spent rockets. One satellite detected was the French geodesy satellite Diademe 2, launched in 1967. This brings the grand total to 2,896 satellites. Only 104 satellites to go before reaching the great 3,000 and 157 satellites to go before reaching the IYA 1,000 goal!!! So far this month, CASTOR has detected 75 new satellites: 90% of the month's quota of 83 satellites. The 2,900 satellite mark is imminent! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       ottovonrotton member Reged: 01/01/09 Posts: 65 Loc: Where is Port Perry? Re: 2,900 Satellite Mark Imminent [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3338027 - 09/16/09 07:45 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Go Michael Go! -------------------- Go Modern, Go Gas, Go Bang! Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada 2,900 Satellite Mark Breached!!! [Re: ottovonrotton]       #3340134 - 09/17/09 06:50 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   On the night of September 12, CASTOR breached the 2,900 satellite mark. The 2,900th satellite was a run-of-the-mill Russian SL-8 rocket body that was used to launch the Cosmos 2184 payload on April 15, 1992. On September 13, 14 and 16, CASTOR performed more detection and tracking, however after the all-night tracking run of Septmebr 16-17, it will take a few days to tally up the new satellites detected. It is expected, however, that the new total will lie somewhere within the 2,930 to 2,950 range. More tracking will be performed tonight with another 10 to 20 additional satellites expected. The new total will be posted in several days. The big 3,000 is now right around the corner! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada September 13 = 10 New Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3345399 - 09/20/09 07:06 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   On the night of September 13, CASTOR detected another 10 satellites, bringing its temporary total to 2,913. Satellite tracking data from September 14, 16 and 17 is still being analyzed. Stay tuned! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada September 14 = 5 New Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3347908 - 09/21/09 10:07 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   On the night of September 14, CASTOR detected another 5 satellites, bringing its temporary total to 2,918. The skies clouded over about 1 hour into my tracking session. The total could have been larger, but as with all ground-based optical astronomy, clouds can certainly get in the way. Satellite tracking data from September 16 and 17 is still being analyzed. Stay tuned! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada September 16-17 = 62 Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3351441 - 09/23/09 11:53 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   On the night of September 16-17 and on the evening of September 17, CASTOR detected another 62 satellites, bringing its total number detected to 2,980. Only 20 satellites to go to reach the big 3,000 and another 73 satellites to complete the IYA goal of 1,000 satellites for this year. I am now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It seems that the satellites have no ending! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Final Satellites: Before October 31 [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3357587 - 09/26/09 10:04 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I have been determined to detect the last and 1,000th IYA satellite on or before October 31, 2009. At this time, I have only 72 satellites left to go. Depending on how many accessible satellites I have left and the weather (of course) I should be able to make this goal. If not, I came pretty close! My next report will be sent on October 1. -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Oct 2 = 16 New Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3370991 - 10/04/09 04:00 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   CASTOR grabbed another 16 satellites on the evening of October 2nd, bringing its total to 2,997 individual satellites. The new satellites detected included the Italian SkyMed 3 Earth observation satellite, an Indian PSLV rocket, several Russian rockets, a recently launched Russian Meteor-M rocket and three presently uncorrelated high altitude objects. Since the IYA began, CASTOR has detected 942 unique satellites. Three satellites remain to reach the 3,000 mark and only 56 satellites remain to reach the 1,000 goal for the IYA. If the weather cooperates, I should have these satellites by mid October. -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       LivingNDixie Lord of Ferrets Reged: 04/23/03 Posts: 16254 Loc: Hoover, AL Re: 2,146 Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3374775 - 10/06/09 03:08 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   As an Astronomical League member, I really enjoyed earning the Earth Orbiting Satellite Club pin. I still love watching some of the brighter satellites pass over even from moderate light polluted skies. My favorite observation was seeing the HST flare a couple months ago to -3 or -4. -------------------- Preston Celestron 11" Nexstar GPS XLT Tak FS 78 Tak Teegul-Lapides Lunt LS60T/Ha 60mm f/8.33 Vixen Porta Mount Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Re: 2,997 Satellites [Re: LivingNDixie]       #3374962 - 10/06/09 04:40 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I enjoy seeing any satellite that I can actually detect. It is quite interesting to know their brightness without knowing beforehand if I can detect them or not. I did get a (slim) chance to detect HST a few weeks back. From this latitude (+44 degrees), it was only a few degrees above the southern horizon. Unfortunately, it was too distant to detect with my wide field camera. One day, I might get a chance to travel to latitudes (and longitudes) where I can pick up the remaining satellites that I can detect. Until then, I am still picking up new ones from this latitude (and longitude). In some ways, it is like climbing Mt. Everest. Every time I take a break and "look up" there is still more mountain to climb. Of course it does not help that the "mountain top" gets higher and higher (new satellites launched every week) -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada 3,000 Satellites Reached!!! [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3382820 - 10/10/09 09:11 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   After a long spell of depressing cloudy weather, CASTOR finally detected the satellites needed to bring its catalogue to over 3,000 unique satellites!!! Four low earth satellites were detected on the evening of the 10th: An American Atlas F Burner Rocket (#2998), a Russian SL-8 rocket (#2999), an American Delta 2 Rocket (#3000!!!) and the GlobalStar M023 communications satellite (#3001). Soon after #3001 was detected, the clouds rolled in once again. Only 52 satellites remain to reach the 1,000 satellite goal set out by CASTOR at the beginning of the IYA. CASTOR had already detected 2,053 satellites in 2007 (Sputnik's 50th anniversary). I expect to reach the goal by mid to the end of this month if the clouds allow. Exciting times indeed! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       ottovonrotton member Reged: 01/01/09 Posts: 65 Loc: Where is Port Perry? Re: 3,000 Satellites Reached!!! [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3383298 - 10/11/09 08:20 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Congrats on the 3000th mark, with lots of time to get the next 52, hope the weather cooperates! -------------------- Go Modern, Go Gas, Go Bang! Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Oct 13 = 18 Satellites [Re: ottovonrotton]       #3389717 - 10/14/09 05:50 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I took advantage of a clear break in the many clouds we have had here in southern Ontario to collect another 18 new satellites for CASTOR. The total number now stands at 3,019 unique satellites. Since the IYA began, CASTOR has detected 966 new satellites, leaving only 34 satellites to go before reaching the IYA goal of 1,000 satellites for this year. CASTOR detected three Iridium satellites, seversl Russian rockets (of course), several American Atlas and Delta rockets (of course), the American IRAS satellite, the South Korean KitSat 3 satellite and a few Russian Cosmos payloads (of course). After all this, I am still left wondering how many of the total satellite population I can detect. It seems that there is no end! -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Michael A. Earl vendor- Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research Reged: 11/17/08 Posts: 1122 Loc: Brockville, Ontario, Canada Re: Oct 16 = 2 Satellites [Re: Michael A. Earl]       #3394627 - 10/17/09 01:31 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I took the opportunity last night to track the NASA TDRS 3 tracking and data relay satellite that was recently moved from the Indian Ocean to the western hemisphere to replace the recently decommisioned pioneer known as TDRS 1. I also took the time to detect the new Amazonas-2 satellite. CASTOR's total to date is 3,021 satellites. Only 32 satellites remain to reach the 1,000 IYA goal set for this year. I expect to reach that number by the end of the week (weather permitting of course). -------------------- Michael A. Earl - Vendor Canadian Astronomy, Satellite Tracking and Optical Research www.castor2.ca Celestron NexStar 11 GPS Celestron NexStar 8i SE SBIG ST-9XE CCD Post Extras:       Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | (show all) Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 0 registered and 0 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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