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Satellites Across the Moon ?
I know that birds can appear as black discs when they are out of focus in
the telescope. There was a S&T article a few years back about several turn of the century observers who were convinced they had seen a planet inside the orbit of mercury transit the sun, but who had in fact just seen out of focus birds. "David Nakamoto" wrote in message ... I was out at a "public star party" last Saturday (July 12), using my 127mm f/12 Mak and a Meade electronic eyepiece on the Moon. Around 9pm until 11pm, several of us saw dark objects cross the Moon. They were around 1/4 to 1/2 the size of the crater Copernicus, and did not have the shape of airplanes, birds, bats, etc. The first four were black disks, were moving at a constant velocity and direction, and were not visible to the unaided eye once they left the face of the Moon. The fifth one consisted of three such objects of different sizes, flying in formation. They went by too fast for us to determine if they were connected physically. The last one consisted of a dark disk with a rectangular object attached to one side. I thought this last one might have been TOPEX/Poseidon, but I checked and that satellite was not scheduled to cross the lunar disk that night during the time we were looking for it, but I was only using Starry Night Pro to check for candidates. Since I used the crater Copernicus to check some of the object's apparent sizes, and assuming a low earth orbit, I did the calculations and figured that a satellite COULD be seen as a shape at the magnifications I was viewing at. The Field of View was only big enough to barely place Copernicus and I believe Kepler. Unfortunately, I didn't have a recorder on hand to record the images. Has anyone else observed this phenomenon ? Thanks ! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Never be afraid of trying something new for the love of it. Remember... amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
#2
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Satellites Across the Moon ?
"David Nakamoto" wrote in message
... I was out at a "public star party" last Saturday (July 12), using my 127mm f/12 Mak and a Meade electronic eyepiece on the Moon. Around 9pm until 11pm, several of us saw dark objects cross the Moon. They were around 1/4 to 1/2 the size of the crater Copernicus, and did not have the shape of airplanes, birds, bats, etc. The first four were black disks, were moving at a constant velocity and direction, and were not visible to the unaided eye once they left the face of the Moon. The fifth one consisted of three such objects of different sizes, flying in formation. They went by too fast for us to determine if they were connected physically. The last one consisted of a dark disk with a rectangular object attached to one side. I thought this last one might have been TOPEX/Poseidon, but I checked and that satellite was not scheduled to cross the lunar disk that night during the time we were looking for it, but I was only using Starry Night Pro to check for candidates. Since I used the crater Copernicus to check some of the object's apparent sizes, and assuming a low earth orbit, I did the calculations and figured that a satellite COULD be seen as a shape at the magnifications I was viewing at. The Field of View was only big enough to barely place Copernicus and I believe Kepler. Unfortunately, I didn't have a recorder on hand to record the images. Has anyone else observed this phenomenon ? Thanks ! I've seen circular objects of about the size you describe cross the face of the Moon and the Sun. I did some preliminary calculations to convince me that they were unlikely to be satellites or near-Earth objects. However, without knowing the other particulars of your observation, it is hard to say we were seeing essentially the same things. Size, speed, elevation and direction are all important in doing a real assessment of the possible candidates. But since this phenomenon is relatively rare, these are easily confused if not forgotten altogether at the time. While I doubt that you saw "birds out of focus" you may have seen helium filled party balloons released to the winds, or even the jet stream. Cheers, Larry G. |
#3
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Satellites Across the Moon ?
In article ,
LarryG wrote: "David Nakamoto" wrote in message .. . I was out at a "public star party" last Saturday (July 12), using my 127mm f/12 Mak and a Meade electronic eyepiece on the Moon. Around 9pm until 11pm, several of us saw dark objects cross the Moon. They were around 1/4 to 1/2 the size of the crater Copernicus, and did not have the shape of airplanes, birds, bats, etc. The first four were black disks, were moving at a constant velocity and direction, and were not visible to the unaided eye once they left the face of the Moon. The fifth one consisted of three such objects of different sizes, flying in formation. They went by too fast for us to determine if they were connected physically. The last one consisted of a dark disk with a rectangular object attached to one side. I thought this last one might have been TOPEX/Poseidon, but I checked and that satellite was not scheduled to cross the lunar disk that night during the time we were looking for it, but I was only using Starry Night Pro to check for candidates. Since I used the crater Copernicus to check some of the object's apparent sizes, and assuming a low earth orbit, I did the calculations and figured that a satellite COULD be seen as a shape at the magnifications I was viewing at. The Field of View was only big enough to barely place Copernicus and I believe Kepler. Unfortunately, I didn't have a recorder on hand to record the images. Has anyone else observed this phenomenon ? Thanks ! I've seen circular objects of about the size you describe cross the face of the Moon and the Sun. I did some preliminary calculations to convince me that they were unlikely to be satellites or near-Earth objects. However, without knowing the other particulars of your observation, it is hard to say we were seeing essentially the same things. Size, speed, elevation and direction are all important in doing a real assessment of the possible candidates. But since this phenomenon is relatively rare, these are easily confused if not forgotten altogether at the time. While I doubt that you saw "birds out of focus" you may have seen helium filled party balloons released to the winds, or even the jet stream. Anotehr explanation which is more likelo IMO is that he saw distant helium weather baloons -- they're released regularly from many places ih the world, and they reach high altitudes -- much higher than party baloons. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Schlyter, Grev Turegatan 40, SE-114 38 Stockholm, SWEDEN e-mail: pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se WWW: http://www.stjarnhimlen.se/ http://home.tiscali.se/pausch/ |
#4
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Satellites Across the Moon ?
"Paul Schlyter" wrote in message
... Anotehr explanation which is more likelo IMO is that he saw distant helium weather baloons -- they're released regularly from many places ih the world, and they reach high altitudes -- much higher than party baloons. Five weather balloons crossing the Moon together? Rather unlikely I think. |
#5
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Satellites Across the Moon ?
I was at the Pasadena Colorado Street Bridge Party last Saturday, doing a TIE
outreach. One of my colleagues saw something cross in front of the Moon with a Celestron Utima 8" SCT, but I did not record the time or any other particulars. He said it was a bat. I have seen satellite transits in front of the Moon before on other occasions, but it is rare for me as I seldom observe the Moon with my equipment. -------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew B. Ota Orange County Astronomers Astroimagers SIG http://www.ocastronomers.org/ Telescopes In Education (TIE) telescope operator http://tie.jpl.nasa.gov/tie/index.html Jet Propulsion Laboratory Saturn Observation Campaign http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm -------------------------------------------------------------- David Nakamoto wrote: I was out at a "public star party" last Saturday (July 12), using my 127mm f/12 Mak and a Meade electronic eyepiece on the Moon. Around 9pm until 11pm, several of us saw dark objects cross the Moon. They were around 1/4 to 1/2 the size of the crater Copernicus, and did not have the shape of airplanes, birds, bats, etc. The first four were black disks, were moving at a constant velocity and direction, and were not visible to the unaided eye once they left the face of the Moon. The fifth one consisted of three such objects of different sizes, flying in formation. They went by too fast for us to determine if they were connected physically. The last one consisted of a dark disk with a rectangular object attached to one side. I thought this last one might have been TOPEX/Poseidon, but I checked and that satellite was not scheduled to cross the lunar disk that night during the time we were looking for it, but I was only using Starry Night Pro to check for candidates. Since I used the crater Copernicus to check some of the object's apparent sizes, and assuming a low earth orbit, I did the calculations and figured that a satellite COULD be seen as a shape at the magnifications I was viewing at. The Field of View was only big enough to barely place Copernicus and I believe Kepler. Unfortunately, I didn't have a recorder on hand to record the images. Has anyone else observed this phenomenon ? Thanks ! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Never be afraid of trying something new for the love of it. Remember... amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
#7
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Satellites Across the Moon ?
"Paul Schlyter" wrote in message
... In article , LarryG wrote: "David Nakamoto" wrote in message .. . I was out at a "public star party" last Saturday (July 12), using my 127mm f/12 Mak and a Meade electronic eyepiece on the Moon. Around 9pm until 11pm, several of us saw dark objects cross the Moon. They were around 1/4 to 1/2 the size of the crater Copernicus, and did not have the shape of airplanes, birds, bats, etc. The first four were black disks, were moving at a constant velocity and direction, and were not visible to the unaided eye once they left the face of the Moon. The fifth one consisted of three such objects of different sizes, flying in formation. They went by too fast for us to determine if they were connected physically. The last one consisted of a dark disk with a rectangular object attached to one side. Has anyone else observed this phenomenon ? Thanks ! Anotehr explanation which is more likelo IMO is that he saw distant helium weather baloons -- they're released regularly from many places ih the world, and they reach high altitudes -- much higher than party baloons. But six crossing the Moon in a two hour period, one sighting with three flying in formation, and the last with a large (larger than the black disk by about five times the diameter of the disk) rectangular object attached? These last two don't sound like weather balloons to me. A simple calculation using the assumed distance (150 miles) angular size (10 to 25 arc-seconds) and the tangent function gives a size of around 10 yards or less. This sounds reasonable for a large telecommunications satellite or reconnaissance one. |
#8
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Satellites Across the Moon ?
Hi Florian,
I checked out that possibility, and found that it had done so, but it was during late twilight and we probably missed that passage; it also looked like it missed the Moon by a wide margin. Probably might have seen it's starlike image if we'd known it was going to cross the sky. Later it made another pass, but missed the Moon by a wider margin. -- Dave -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Never be afraid of trying something new for the love of it. Remember... amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Florian" wrote in message news The Hubble Space Telescope is making nice evening passes these days. I watched a pretty pass last night from Palm Springs. Now that i think of it HST was heading pretty much toward the full moon but i didn't follow it that far in the sky to see if it actually crossed the moon. ;-/ -Florian Stargazing.com |
#9
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Satellites Across the Moon ?
"Paul Schlyter" wrote in message
... In article , Vernon wrote: "Paul Schlyter" wrote in message ... Another explanation which is more likelo IMO is that he saw distant helium weather baloons -- they're released regularly from many places ih the world, and they reach high altitudes -- much higher than party baloons. Five weather balloons crossing the Moon together? Rather unlikely I think. OK, I missed that part. And I agree with you: 5 weather baloons together are unlikely. In that case, party baloons are more likely. There's some confusion here. I said that the first four sightings were single black disk objects crossing the Moon. The fifth was three such objects of slightly varying sizes flying in formation. The last was a disk on which was attached a large retangularly shaped object. -- Dave |
#10
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Satellites Across the Moon ?
"Jskies187" wrote in message
... This sounds reasonable for a large telecommunications satellite or reconnaissance one. Reconnaissance?! And Mars is nearing it's closest approach in thousands of years. Hmm...... T H AT ' S I T ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! The Martians are C O M I N G ! ! ! ! ! ! And the X-Files have been cancelled, so we don't have Muldar and Scully to save us ! :-) |
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