|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
three satelites in a triangle
I live in Stroud Glos, UK, and just saw three quite faint light passing from
nnw to sse almost directly overhead. The local time was within a few minutes of 22.30 BST. There was one leading with two trailing. the rear two were about three times as far from the front one as they are from each other. They passed in front of three seperate stars which were clearly visible, so I am certain it was not a very slow low plane, and there were no navigation lights. Is it possible that this could be a satelite group that is not listed in heavens above? I realise that I am new to this group, buty would REALLY appreciate any assitance, since in many nights of watching the sky and satelites, I have never seen anything like it at all. Thanks |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
In article ,
Andy Thurkettle wrote: I live in Stroud Glos, UK, and just saw three quite faint light passing from nnw to sse almost directly overhead. Those are quite something, aren't they? They're owned by the U.S. Navy and are called the NOSS satellites. What you saw was a "NOSS triplet" or "NOSS trio." If they didn't show up when you ran a Heavens-Above list of satellite passes for your area, try another query with a fainter magnitude. If that still doesn't work, go to the "Select a satellite from the database" option, and enter "NOSS%" (without the quotation marks) into the Satellite Name field. You'll get lots of results! You can then check the passes for some until you hit upon the correct triplet. (Or maybe someone else in the UK who reads this group has been following them recently and can tell you which triplet it was.) Have fun! Patty |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Andy Thurkettle wrote: I live in Stroud Glos, UK, and just saw three quite faint light passing from nnw to sse almost directly overhead. The local time was within a few minutes of 22.30 BST. There was one leading with two trailing. the rear two were about three times as far from the front one as they are from each other. They passed in front of three seperate stars which were clearly visible, so I am certain it was not a very slow low plane, and there were no navigation lights. Is it possible that this could be a satelite group that is not listed in heavens above? I realise that I am new to this group, buty would REALLY appreciate any assitance, since in many nights of watching the sky and satelites, I have never seen anything like it at all. Thanks This looks like a NOSS trio - fun to watch. Those are listed at Heavens-Above, but if you do not specifically search for them, they most probably will not show up in the list of satellites for the night, because are quite faint. From main heavens-above page klick "Select staellite" and enter "NOSS%" in the Satellite name box. If I'm not wrong, what you saw was NOSS-2: Date: 13 Sep Mag: 6.2 Start: 22:20:06 10-degrees [NW] Max.Alt.: 22:27:31 75-degrees [SW] End: 22:30:02 48-degrees [SSE] Regards, - Alex |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
"Andy Thurkettle" wrote in message ... I live in Stroud Glos, UK, and just saw three quite faint light passing from nnw to sse almost directly overhead. The local time was within a few minutes of 22.30 BST. There was one leading with two trailing. the rear two were about three times as far from the front one as they are from each other. They passed in front of three seperate stars which were clearly visible, so I am certain it was not a very slow low plane, and there were no navigation lights. Is it possible that this could be a satelite group that is not listed in heavens above? I realise that I am new to this group, buty would REALLY appreciate any assitance, since in many nights of watching the sky and satelites, I have never seen anything like it at all. Google (or whatever your search engine of choice may be) will have lots of information on the "NOSS triplets". I'm heading out at the moment, but someone will be along shortly to tell you which of them you saw. Essentially, the formation allows them to more precisely 'triangulate' the position of ships at sea. -- Stephen Home Page: stephmon.com Satellite Hunting: sathunt.com |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Alexander Avtanski wrote:
This looks like a NOSS trio - fun to watch. Those are listed at Heavens-Above, but if you do not specifically search for them, they most probably will not show up in the list of satellites for the night, because are quite faint. From main heavens-above page klick "Select staellite" and enter "NOSS%" in the Satellite name box. Just to pick a nit, you should enter NOSS 2-% The three groups of triplets are all second-generation NOSS. I don't think any of the first generation satellites are flying in formation (although it's been a while since I looked for any of them.) --Bill Thompson |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
"Andy Thurkettle" wrote in message
... I live in Stroud Glos, UK, and just saw three quite faint light passing from nnw to sse almost directly overhead. The local time was within a few minutes of 22.30 BST. There was one leading with two trailing. the rear two were about three times as far from the front one as they are from each other. They passed in front of three seperate stars which were clearly visible, so I am certain it was not a very slow low plane, and there were no navigation lights. Is it possible that this could be a satelite group that is not listed in heavens above? I realise that I am new to this group, buty would REALLY appreciate any assitance, since in many nights of watching the sky and satelites, I have never seen anything like it at all. As others have pointed out, you saw NOSS satellites. I maintain a web page on them, including their catalogue numbers and international designations, which you can use in making requests to prediction services: http://www.satobs.org/noss.html Ted Molczan |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
William R. Thompson wrote: Alexander Avtanski wrote: This looks like a NOSS trio - fun to watch. Those are listed at Heavens-Above, but if you do not specifically search for them, they most probably will not show up in the list of satellites for the night, because are quite faint. From main heavens-above page klick "Select staellite" and enter "NOSS%" in the Satellite name box. Just to pick a nit, you should enter NOSS 2-% The three groups of triplets are all second-generation NOSS. I don't think any of the first generation satellites are flying in formation (although it's been a while since I looked for any of them.) --Bill Thompson Thanks for the information. I've seen NOSS 2-2 and also 2-1 (I think) and was assuming that the rest are also flying in formation (although I heard these were by pairs, not triplets). Now I know better, :-) - Alex |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Alexander Avtanski wrote:
Thanks for the information. I've seen NOSS 2-2 and also 2-1 (I think) and was assuming that the rest are also flying in formation (although I heard these were by pairs, not triplets). Now I know better, :-) - Alex In an e-mail, Russell Eberst pointed out that there's another NOSS triplet: NOSS 7. On H-A, they're listed as 86014 D, E, and H There's also the NOSS 2-3 triplet. There are two satellites pairs, USA 160 A and C, and USA 173 A and C, which appear to be a new generation of NOSS satellites. These pairs aren't as spectacular as the flying triangles. --Bill Thompson |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
The Galilean Triangle, 2004/2/16 UT | Dave Mitsky | Amateur Astronomy | 0 | February 18th 04 07:59 AM |
Center of the universe??? | Jack53209 | Amateur Astronomy | 257 | February 7th 04 05:44 PM |