Have you ever seen an object in the sky that looked like a moving star?
It could have been a man made satellite.
There are also satellites that are WAY brighter than stars, most of these are Iridium flares. Some can even be seen in the daytime they are so bright.
This site will tell you EXACTLY where and when to look for these events. Try it out tonight, let us know what you see.
http://heavens-above.com
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Cool astronomy site. |
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Schwanson Schlegel
SL's Tokin' Villain
Join date: 15 Nov 2003
Posts: 2,721
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05-27-2005 17:14
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Nolan Nash
Frischer Frosch
Join date: 15 May 2003
Posts: 7,141
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05-27-2005 17:19
Cool! Thanks for the link Schwan. My friends and I regulary have get togethers out at my best friend's house - he lives out in the country, far from city lights and pollution - we have contests to see who can spot the most satellites, meteorites, etc. We also have planet or constellation identification and naming contests - but I always win LOL, so it's hard to get them to play that one!
It doesn't really matter after beers and herb though now does it?  _____________________
“Time's fun when you're having flies.” ~Kermit
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Einsman Schlegel
Disenchanted Fool
Join date: 11 Jun 2003
Posts: 1,461
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05-27-2005 17:24
I had something similar that I registered to. But alas, I can't see much for I'm in the middle of 3 million people, with tons of light pollution. The only things I was able to see was the ISS.
Definately neat site though. _____________________
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Schwanson Schlegel
SL's Tokin' Villain
Join date: 15 Nov 2003
Posts: 2,721
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05-27-2005 17:29
It doesn't really matter after beers and herb though now does it? I have no idea what you are talking about.  I have been in several remote regions, and have freaked out the villagers by showing them passing satellites. This site is balls-on accurate, tells you exactly when and where to look. I live in a fairly urban area, light pollution is bad here. I still can usually see 3-4 a night. When in a region w/o light pollution, 10-15 a night is easy. _____________________
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Hiro Queso
503less
Join date: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 2,753
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05-28-2005 03:58
Great Schwanson, thnx for the link!
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Kris Ritter
paradoxical embolism
Join date: 31 Oct 2003
Posts: 6,627
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05-28-2005 04:18
yuppers. I use heavens above all the time when stargazing. It's deadly accurate too. you can literally pre-align your scope and watch the object come into view exactly as plotted.
(Of course my ETX computerised scope already knows where they all are and just points to anything you want to look at with the click of a button on the remote  )_____________________
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Hiro Queso
503less
Join date: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 2,753
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05-28-2005 08:38
yuppers. I use heavens above all the time when stargazing. It's deadly accurate too. you can literally pre-align your scope and watch the object come into view exactly as plotted. (Of course my ETX computerised scope already knows where they all are and just points to anything you want to look at with the click of a button on the remote )Show off _____________________
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Kris Ritter
paradoxical embolism
Join date: 31 Oct 2003
Posts: 6,627
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05-28-2005 09:02
Show off If I'd been showing off I'd have mentioned my 8" Orion instead  _____________________
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Schwanson Schlegel
SL's Tokin' Villain
Join date: 15 Nov 2003
Posts: 2,721
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05-28-2005 09:16
If I'd been showing off I'd have mentioned my 8" Orion instead Wow Kris, you are well hung! _____________________
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Kris Ritter
paradoxical embolism
Join date: 31 Oct 2003
Posts: 6,627
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05-28-2005 09:19
Wow Kris, you are well hung! thats 8 inches WIDE, baby! It's nearly as tall as me! _____________________
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Judah Jimador
Registered User
Join date: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 230
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05-28-2005 09:51
(Of course my ETX computerised scope already knows where they all are and just points to anything you want to look at with the click of a button on the remote )I would've killed for a nice scope when I was a bit younger. I've kind of fallen out of my stargazing habit, though  I don't know anything about "ETX", though...I'll do a bit of Googling later on. Does your scope actually know orbits for public satellites? If so, how do you keep that updated? I know, I should go look for my own lazy self... -- jj |
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Kris Ritter
paradoxical embolism
Join date: 31 Oct 2003
Posts: 6,627
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05-28-2005 16:28
I don't know anything about "ETX", though...I'll do a bit of Googling later on. Does your scope actually know orbits for public satellites? If so, how do you keep that updated? I know, I should go look for my own lazy self... Yes, it knows about 50 near earth satellites by default. And yes, you can keep it updated for the positions of Earth satellites and positions of newly-discovered objects, such as comets, by downloading new software for the Autostar GoTo handset, which you upload to the scope via a RS-232 serial/RJ45 cable. The bestest ETX site on the web is weasners. _____________________
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Eggy Lippmann
Wiktator
Join date: 1 May 2003
Posts: 7,939
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05-28-2005 19:16
(Of course my ETX computerised scope already knows where they all are and just points to anything you want to look at with the click of a button on the remote )omfg, marry me! i am a huge astronomy buff, and even attend national events on a regular basis. _____________________
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Eggy Lippmann
Wiktator
Join date: 1 May 2003
Posts: 7,939
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05-28-2005 19:18
thats 8 inches WIDE, baby! It's nearly as tall as me! BAHH my astronomy group has a 10 incher it still sucks _____________________
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Garoad Kuroda
Prophet of Muppetry
Join date: 5 Sep 2003
Posts: 2,989
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05-28-2005 22:09
Got a 17 inch dobsonian here....currently covered with a trash bag, but hey, it's a cannon! (Not that it makes much of a difference with all the light pollution.
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BTW
WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS! |
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Chance Abattoir
Future Rockin' Resmod
Join date: 3 Apr 2004
Posts: 3,898
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06-03-2005 03:12
Got a 17 inch dobsonian here....currently covered with a trash bag, but hey, it's a cannon! (Not that it makes much of a difference with all the light pollution. )Is C3P0 black? _____________________
"The mob requires regular doses of scandal, paranoia and dilemma to alleviate the boredom of a meaningless existence."
-Insane Ramblings, Anton LaVey |
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Roseann Flora
/wrist
Join date: 7 Feb 2004
Posts: 1,058
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06-03-2005 04:22
Cool thanks!
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Ricky Zamboni
Private citizen
Join date: 4 Jun 2004
Posts: 1,080
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06-03-2005 07:21
<pissing contest>
My first job after grad school was as a postdoctoral research scientist with a large observational cosmology collaboration. If you think images from a 17" telescope are good, you should try 0.2 arcsec resolution from a 3.6m primary mirror on the top of a mountain...we would routinely get objects down to 27th magnitude and redshifts out to ~1. </pissing contest> _____________________
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Garoad Kuroda
Prophet of Muppetry
Join date: 5 Sep 2003
Posts: 2,989
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06-03-2005 23:52
Is C3P0 black? roflmao _____________________
BTW
WTF is C3PO supposed to be USEFUL for anyway, besides whining? Stupid piece of scrap metal would be more useful recycled as a toaster. But even that would suck, because who would want to listen to a whining wussy toaster? Is he gold plated? If that's the case he should just be melted down into gold ingots. Help the economy some, and stop being so damn useless you stupid bucket of bolts! R2 is 1,000 times more useful than your tin man ass, and he's shaped like a salt and pepper shaker FFS! |
