Anyone Watching Satellites?

[MossRoad]

In another thread I was bemoaning my fate of living in a non-dark area where I cannot see as many stars as I used to and can hear mankind all around me pretty much 24-7. One thing I can do here, however, is watch satellites.

Here is a link to a really, really cool website that allows you to plug in your coordinates or choose a town near you or choose your location from a google map. Once you enter your location, it will allow you to choose Daily predictions for all satellites brighter than magnitude: (brightest) 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 (dimmest).


I choose the 4.5 just to see all of the satellites that are in my area. However, I have trouble seeing anything less than a 2.5 (lower numbers are brighter).


Anyhow, it will give you a list of all satellites viewable for that location on that night. Then I just wait for a bright one, go outside at the time listed, look in the direction they tell me to look at the elevation they say and BINGO! there it goes moving across the sky! :thumbsup:


Give it a try and see how you like it.


Heavens-Above Home Page

 

[dcyrilc]

Great site Moss,

I was just looking and noticed the ISS is at max height in the SW right now. I headed outside to look for it and as I went out the door it occured to me that it's raining outside.:ashamed: I guess I'm not going to see much tonight.:laughing::laughing:

 

[MicroPilot]

Been watching satellites for a few years now. I use Heavens-Above. Saw the ISS on it's 2nd pass over me this evening.

I now have my neighbors watching and a few Facebook friends too!

 

[/pine]

NASA has some great JAVA apps that I have used for over ten years...

"J-Pass" and "J-Track"

NASA - Science@NASA J-Track Astronomical Satellites

NASA - Science@NASA JPass

both of these are customizable...you will need the correct JRE

for something really cool (and this is almost ten years old) check out the 3-D display of the earth and all the satellites... allow the app to load then you can use the setttings to set your preferences...you can also click on any satellite and it will ID it and show you it's orbit

you can use the cursor to move the attitude of the earth...some will be amazed at how many satellites are out there..both in low and high earth orbits...
NASA - Science@NASA J-Track 3D

 

[MossRoad]

Neat links! Thanks. :thumbsup:

A few weeks back my youngest daughter and I were out watching satellites at a graduation party. We saw a really cool one that was apparently wobbling or rotating slowly. We noticed it when it was bright, then it faded out. About 20 second later it appeared about a finger length away again, then faded out again. So I told my daughter to measure the distance between the place we first saw it and the second place and then move in a straight line past that point that distance and sure enough it appeared again about 20 seconds later. We followed it across the sky for about 5-6 more rotations and the same intervals. Pretty neat.

My goal now is to witness an iridium flash.

 

[Redgoatea]

Hey Moss. What a great idea. I actually work nights in town at a mill that has a thing for giant outdoor lights so I don't get to see many stars . But I'll try out the links this weekend. Thanks for the suggestion 7

 

[texasjohn]

Wonderful site...never heard of it before.

Looked for the "sign of the tractor" but didn't find it... will have to return and continue my search...lots of satellites to sort thru:thumbsup:

 

[sodamo]

Really neat

 

[ronjhall]

I like your site better. Been using this NASA site for several years. Never seem to watch much here at home. But get to do it often in TX and AZ during the winter.

 

[randy41]

there is an iphone/ipod touch app for this too.

 

[jcims]

Neat links! Thanks. :thumbsup:

A few weeks back my youngest daughter and I were out watching satellites at a graduation party. We saw a really cool one that was apparently wobbling or rotating slowly. We noticed it when it was bright, then it faded out. About 20 second later it appeared about a finger length away again, then faded out again. So I told my daughter to measure the distance between the place we first saw it and the second place and then move in a straight line past that point that distance and sure enough it appeared again about 20 seconds later. We followed it across the sky for about 5-6 more rotations and the same intervals. Pretty neat.

My goal now is to witness an iridium flash.

Had a similar 'combo' event a couple of months ago at my inlaws new place out in the boonies.

First we see a very bright (relatively speaking, not quite as bright as Venus or anything) satellite heading almost due East appear for about 10-15 seconds and then disappear. Pretty clearly an Iridium flare, which I confirmed the following morning at http://www.heavens-above.com

Then, about 20 minutes later, we see another satellite. This one was heading NNE or so, much less bright, but constant. It reminded me of previous ISS sightings, but I had no idea what this one was. The interesting thing, though, was that just a few seconds behind it was another sattelite. This second one was very dim, but clearly heading in the same path as the first.

That struck me as odd, I'd never seen that before, but I just kind of filed it away. The next morning I saw this in the news:

Russian cargo ship fails to dock with ISS

 

[riptides]

jcims

Cool stuff, I managed to catch the ISS and the space shuttle trying to catch it one night with the kids.

Boggles the mind sometimes. I saw the STS-1 and 2, go up, wonder if I should catch the last one too.

 

[jcims]

jcims

Cool stuff, I managed to catch the ISS and the space shuttle trying to catch it one night with the kids.

Boggles the mind sometimes. I saw the STS-1 and 2, go up, wonder if I should catch the last one too.

Nice! STS-1 had to be serious pucker factor for everyone involved...what a machine.

With any luck, the shuttle program will graduate summa *** laude from the Jordan & Favre School of Retirement. :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

Had a similar 'combo' event a couple of months ago at my inlaws new place out in the boonies.

First we see a very bright (relatively speaking, not quite as bright as Venus or anything) satellite heading almost due East appear for about 10-15 seconds and then disappear. Pretty clearly an Iridium flare, which I confirmed the following morning at Heavens-Above Home Page

Then, about 20 minutes later, we see another satellite. This one was heading NNE or so, much less bright, but constant. It reminded me of previous ISS sightings, but I had no idea what this one was. The interesting thing, though, was that just a few seconds behind it was another sattelite. This second one was very dim, but clearly heading in the same path as the first.

That struck me as odd, I'd never seen that before, but I just kind of filed it away. The next morning I saw this in the news:

Russian cargo ship fails to dock with ISS

Wow. What timing! Just being at the right place at the right time and looking up to see a once in a lifetime event. Very cool!

Many years ago my wife and I were driving through Florida. We just happened to be going by the space center and there were cars stopped all along the roadways. We asked people what was going on and they said the space shuttle was launching in just a few minutes. I look over and there is ONE parking space left on top of a bridge, so I pull in, my wife and I get out, we look in the direction everyone is looking and all of a sudden we see this HUGE fireball glowing through the trees. Then up goes the shuttle and about 15-20 seconds later the ground starts shaking and we can feel the rumble in our chests! We watched it go for about 10 minutes until it was out of sight, then hopped in our car and left. Talk about good timing! :laughing:

Probably over a decade later we were at Disney World. We walk out of one of the indoor ride buildings and I just happen to look up and there goes a space shuttle launch! I grab the wife and kids and we watch that one go for about 5 minutes, too. Kinda funny how just a few people stopped and watched. Most people just glanced at it and kept going. It was old stuff, by then. :confused3:

 

[flyingcow]

jcims

Cool stuff, I managed to catch the ISS and the space shuttle trying to catch it one night with the kids.

Boggles the mind sometimes. I saw the STS-1 and 2, go up, wonder if I should catch the last one too.

Watched the same thing, maybe 6 months ago? heard about it in the news and looked it up heavens website and got the kids and watched it.

Also have just a laid on my back on a moonless night and seen all kinds of cool stuff. No cities around us.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Find a young kid. Children or grandchildren. If you don't have one, borrow one.

Take them out on a clear night and let them watch the space station go overhead. When my son was about 5 1/2, I took him out one night and we watched the ISS go by. We talked about how it was reflecting sunlight, even though it was dark outside. We talked about gravity, escape velocities, and just how far away the station is (in comparison to how many trips it would take to Grannie's house from our house). Sure, we kept it basic, because 1.) he was five, and 2.) because I don't even fully understand all the physics behind it. But I shared with him what I do know, admitted what I don't know, and told him how he could learn more.

Not a month later, he has memorized all the planets (including the dwarf planets). Now he's seven, and he knows there are multiple theories about how our moon formed (his favorite is the giant impact theory), knows what happens during an eclipse, knows that the seasons change as the Earth moves on its axis.

Never be surprised at just how much these kids are capable of. And sometimes, all it takes is 40 seconds of staring up at the night sky spark their interest.

 

[MicroPilot]

Nice!

I got my son and wife to come out and watch an aurora event, which is rather rare at my latitude, they came out looked at it for about 10 seconds, said "Thats nice" and went back in to stare at the idiot box.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I like those 2 sites, heavens above and J track.

 

[dmccarty]

Wow. What timing! Just being at the right place at the right time and looking up to see a once in a lifetime event. Very cool!

I am from Orlando but we left when I was a kid but our families still lived in town. One year my mother and I were driving back to Orlando for a visit. I am pretty sure we were driving through the long gone citrus groves along 301 and/or 441. Off the the east we saw a Saturn 5 launch from the Cape. That thin was big even from a distance. :laughing:

I do remember driving east to see a shuttle launch one year.

Even living in South Florida one could see the shuttles launch if there was a clear sky. I saw a night launch once that was pretty awesome. You could even see the booster separate.

One year I was driving north on I95 to work and I saw some strange smoke in the sky. Got to work and people were clustered around the few TVs in the building. An announcement was made about the shuttle being lost after launch.

Later,
Dan

 

[flyingcow]

Find a young kid. Children or grandchildren. If you don't have one, borrow one.

Take them out on a clear night and let them watch the space station go overhead. When my son was about 5 1/2, I took him out one night and we watched the ISS go by. We talked about how it was reflecting sunlight, even though it was dark outside. We talked about gravity, escape velocities, and just how far away the station is (in comparison to how many trips it would take to Grannie's house from our house). Sure, we kept it basic, because 1.) he was five, and 2.) because I don't even fully understand all the physics behind it. But I shared with him what I do know, admitted what I don't know, and told him how he could learn more.

Not a month later, he has memorized all the planets (including the dwarf planets). Now he's seven, and he knows there are multiple theories about how our moon formed (his favorite is the giant impact theory), knows what happens during an eclipse, knows that the seasons change as the Earth moves on its axis.

Never be surprised at just how much these kids are capable of. And sometimes, all it takes is 40 seconds of staring up at the night sky spark their interest.

Truly one of those few moments in life that are unforgettable. Congrats!!