· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums 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] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Observing >> NEO Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 EJN Pooh-Bah Reged: 11/01/05 Loc: Highway 61 Geostationary satellite compact trio       #5283189 - 06/22/12 12:53 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I chanced upon a very compact group of 3 geostationary satellites last night while observing Saturn in an 8" f/5 dob at 143x. Saturn passed directly by the group, I noticed 2 "stars" which did not move. When Saturn passed out of the field, I noticed a 3rd, fainter one. I would estimate the 2 brighter ones at mag. 11, and the fainter at mag. 12, they easily fit in the 1/3 degree field of view of the eyepiece I was using. Watching stars drift through the field while they remained motionless was almost...hypnotic. Using Cal Sky, I identified them as XM-1, XM-2, & XM-4, of SiriusXM radio. As the night progressed, they slowly changed orientation with respect to each other, doing a little "dance." I was able to find them again tonight by setting up the scope in the exact same spot, and using the TV antenna on the building I live in as a reference point. At 10:16 pm, Saturn passed through the field of view, exactly 4 minutes earlier than last night. They are repeating the exact same "dance" as last night. From my location, they are at alt. 34 degrees, azimuth 217 degrees. Post Extras:       PaulZPA journeyman Reged: 04/08/12 Loc: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Re: Geostationary satellite compact trio [Re: EJN]       #5283859 - 06/22/12 01:23 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Interesting! I'll have to take a look for them. Post Extras:       BSJ scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 12/22/08 Loc: Grand Isle, VT Re: Geostationary satellite compact trio [Re: EJN]       #5305254 - 07/06/12 11:44 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I saw them too! Only it was last night, 7-6-12 at 2230. AZ 228° 31' Alt +26° 01' It's the first geostationary satellites I've seen. Was doing the same thing, observing Saturn. I had looked away from the eye piece for a moment. When I looked again I saw a moon moving. I literally thought to myself. "That's not a moon. It's a space sta… Satellite!" Que Star Wars memories. I also noticed the two brighter ones first, and then the dimmer one. It was really quite eerie watching them with my Dob. Kept wanting to push on it to keep them in view, but didn’t need too. They stayed centered as everything else drifted by. Post Extras:       Scott in NC Mad Hatter Reged: 03/05/05 Loc: NC Re: Geostationary satellite compact trio [Re: BSJ]       #5307107 - 07/07/12 05:28 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Very cool! I've never seen any of these before (or at least if I have, I didn't realize what I was looking at). Post Extras:       nytecam Postmaster Reged: 08/20/05 Loc: London UK Re: Geostationary satellite compact trio [Re: Scott in NC]       #5311779 - 07/10/12 06:19 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Fair easy to pick-up with a static camera on a tripod and exposure of a few minutes at most - geosats as points of light whilst stars trail Post Extras:       b1gred Enginerd Reged: 04/01/04 Loc: Castle Rock, CO 6677' MSL Re: Geostationary satellite compact trio [Re: nytecam]       #5319684 - 07/16/12 12:38 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Those 3 birds are in the same "box" in the geosync band. WildBlue/Viasat do that also, as do several other satellite operators. It takes some good coordination and accurate "flying" of the birds, but it's an efficiency operators love. The "box" is actually 3-dimensional about 600 miles E/W x 800 miles N/S by about 100 miles deep. The 2 in WildBlue's box do a little "figure-8" within the box daily. It's pretty easy to find geosync satellites. Find out the elevation of the geosync band from your location, use the az/el function of your mount, but turn tracking off. Set the elevation for the band, then watch for a while, you'll start seeing "stars" that don't move with other that do behind them. The ones that don't move are the geosync birds, the ones moving are stars. There are a couple of web-sites that will give you the az/el for pretty much any geosync satellite based on your location. Edited by b1gred (07/16/12 12:41 AM) Post Extras:       ido sage Reged: 06/29/06 Re: Geostationary satellite compact trio [Re: b1gred]       #5326359 - 07/20/12 05:45 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   See link for a geo-sat movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWhKVN2FpZ8&feature=youtu.be&hd=1 Post Extras:       ssandusky member Reged: 07/20/12 Loc: Halls Lake Re: Geostationary satellite compact trio [Re: ido]       #5332213 - 07/23/12 10:13 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I would love to show these to my kids, what's the best way to find the XM satellites and other geostationary satellites like them? TIA! Sarah Post Extras:       Starhawk Post Laureate Reged: 09/16/08 Loc: Tucson, Arizona Re: Geostationary satellite compact trio [Re: ssandusky]       #5482387 - 10/21/12 05:34 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Interesting indeed. Good work correlating them! -Rich Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 0 registered and 0 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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