Slow moving object spotted near M11

11:58PM EDT (UT - 4)
42.5791°N, 71.6526°W (NAD27)

In the vicinity of M11 I observed a very slow moving object heading east. At
the time I was aligning my 10mm Plossl cross-hairs eyepiece in the Orion
80ED F7.5 refractor for manually guiding an image of M11. To the left in the
eyepiece, about half the distance from center to edge, I thought I saw a
star moving toward the center of the field, but a quick glance revealed
nothing, so I went back to aligning the cross-hairs. I then noticed it
again, and decided to watch intently for a time. Sure enough, after about 5
seconds I clearly saw an object moving across the field of view at a rate
much slower than any satellite I've ever seen. I didn't have an accurate
method to time the transit, but it was very slow, maybe on the order of 45
seconds to a minute from its initial position to the edge of field with the
clock drive running.

How would I go about determing what that was?

A satellite, I'd be surprised. I've seen plenty of those whiz through the
eyepiece, and they are unmistakeable. I also observed comet Machholz take a
few to several minutes to move from one position angle of a nearby star, to
another position angle. This object was faster than a comet, and slower than
any satellite I've ever seen.

I'm thinking a fast moving asteroid... ??

Stephen Paul
Shirley, MA

A quick check is to turn off your telescope's drive. If the object stops,
and everything ELSE moves out of the field, you have a geosynchronous
satellite...

At my latitude, I have a string of them that drift through M-42, and
nearly split the Trapezium, in season...

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272
"Stephen Paul" wrote in message
...
11:58PM EDT (UT - 4)
42.5791°N, 71.6526°W (NAD27)

In the vicinity of M11 I observed a very slow moving object heading
east. At
the time I was aligning my 10mm Plossl cross-hairs eyepiece in the Orion
80ED F7.5 refractor for manually guiding an image of M11. To the left in
the
eyepiece, about half the distance from center to edge, I thought I saw a
star moving toward the center of the field, but a quick glance revealed
nothing, so I went back to aligning the cross-hairs. I then noticed it
again, and decided to watch intently for a time. Sure enough, after
about 5
seconds I clearly saw an object moving across the field of view at a
rate
much slower than any satellite I've ever seen. I didn't have an accurate
method to time the transit, but it was very slow, maybe on the order of
45
seconds to a minute from its initial position to the edge of field with
the
clock drive running.

How would I go about determing what that was?

A satellite, I'd be surprised. I've seen plenty of those whiz through
the
eyepiece, and they are unmistakeable. I also observed comet Machholz
take a
few to several minutes to move from one position angle of a nearby star,
to
another position angle. This object was faster than a comet, and slower
than
any satellite I've ever seen.

I'm thinking a fast moving asteroid... ??

Stephen Paul
Shirley, MA

Right, I forgot about that trick.

I know the position to within a reasonable margin of error to be altitude
+30, azimuth 225 at around midnight. I'm trying to figure out how to use
Heavens Above to search with that information to find what was in the area
at that time.

Thanks,
Stephen

"Jan Owen" wrote in message
news:jV3Qe.72096$DW1.13121@fed1read06...
A quick check is to turn off your telescope's drive. If the object stops,
and everything ELSE moves out of the field, you have a geosynchronous
satellite...

At my latitude, I have a string of them that drift through M-42, and
nearly split the Trapezium, in season...

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.662
Longitude: -112.3272
"Stephen Paul" wrote in message
...
11:58PM EDT (UT - 4)
42.5791°N, 71.6526°W (NAD27)

In the vicinity of M11 I observed a very slow moving object heading
east. At
the time I was aligning my 10mm Plossl cross-hairs eyepiece in the Orion
80ED F7.5 refractor for manually guiding an image of M11. To the left in
the
eyepiece, about half the distance from center to edge, I thought I saw a
star moving toward the center of the field, but a quick glance revealed
nothing, so I went back to aligning the cross-hairs. I then noticed it
again, and decided to watch intently for a time. Sure enough, after
about 5
seconds I clearly saw an object moving across the field of view at a
rate
much slower than any satellite I've ever seen. I didn't have an accurate
method to time the transit, but it was very slow, maybe on the order of
45
seconds to a minute from its initial position to the edge of field with
the
clock drive running.

How would I go about determing what that was?

A satellite, I'd be surprised. I've seen plenty of those whiz through
the
eyepiece, and they are unmistakeable. I also observed comet Machholz
take a
few to several minutes to move from one position angle of a nearby star,
to
another position angle. This object was faster than a comet, and slower
than
any satellite I've ever seen.

I'm thinking a fast moving asteroid... ??

Stephen Paul
Shirley, MA

On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 15:49:52 -0400, "Stephen Paul"
wrote:

11:58PM EDT (UT - 4)
42.5791°N, 71.6526°W (NAD27)

In the vicinity of M11 I observed a very slow moving object heading east.

TheSky (set to the above coordinates and time) shows ANIK F1 (a Canadian
comm sat) 46 arcmin east of M11. Two degrees west of M11 was DIRECTV 6
(an American comm sat). A little under two degrees east of M11 was MSAT
M1 (another Canadian bird). All of these should be in the magnitude
10-11 brightness range. All would have appeared to be drifting east with
respect to M11, of course.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

"Chris L Peterson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 15:49:52 -0400, "Stephen Paul"
wrote:

11:58PM EDT (UT - 4)
42.5791°N, 71.6526°W (NAD27)

In the vicinity of M11 I observed a very slow moving object heading east.

TheSky (set to the above coordinates and time) shows ANIK F1 (a Canadian
comm sat) 46 arcmin east of M11. Two degrees west of M11 was DIRECTV 6
(an American comm sat). A little under two degrees east of M11 was MSAT
M1 (another Canadian bird). All of these should be in the magnitude
10-11 brightness range. All would have appeared to be drifting east with
respect to M11, of course.



ANIK F1 KICKS a LOT of ASS in communications for the far north.
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...1/anik_f1.html

ANIK F2
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...2/anik_f2.html
went up last year as a second generation
juggernaut built by Boeing (designed by Canuks).


http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/dfl/chronology.asp

"Mick" wrote in message
news:gJ8Qe.216300$tt5.45145@edtnps90...

"Chris L Peterson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 15:49:52 -0400, "Stephen Paul"
wrote:

11:58PM EDT (UT - 4)
42.5791°N, 71.6526°W (NAD27)

In the vicinity of M11 I observed a very slow moving object heading east.

TheSky (set to the above coordinates and time) shows ANIK F1 (a Canadian
comm sat) 46 arcmin east of M11. Two degrees west of M11 was DIRECTV 6
(an American comm sat). A little under two degrees east of M11 was MSAT
M1 (another Canadian bird). All of these should be in the magnitude
10-11 brightness range. All would have appeared to be drifting east with
respect to M11, of course.




OOps ANIK F2 is 3rd generation
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/...r_040708m.html

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 01:47:56 GMT, "Mick" wrote:


ANIK F2
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...2/anik_f2.html
went up last year as a second generation
juggernaut built by Boeing (designed by Canuks).

The Spacecraft Bus was Boeing's. I believed the payload was designed by
Spar. I worked on the E series Aniks. On the E's the Bus was GE's (was
actually designed by RCA, now owned by Lockheed) the payload on the E
series was also designed by Spar. I spent time at both of Spar's facilities
in Ottawa and Montreal. What a pain in the ass that program was.
-JATO
http://jatobservatory.org

ANIK F2
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...2/anik_f2.html
went up last year as a second generation
juggernaut built by Boeing (designed by Canuks).

The Spacecraft Bus was Boeing's. I believed the payload was designed by
Spar. I worked on the E series Aniks. On the E's the Bus was GE's (was
actually designed by RCA, now owned by Lockheed) the payload on the E
series was also designed by Spar. I spent time at both of Spar's
facilities
in Ottawa and Montreal. What a pain in the ass that program was.
-JATO
http://jatobservatory.org



So what's your point?

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 05:20:05 GMT, "Mick" wrote:




ANIK F2
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...2/anik_f2.html
went up last year as a second generation
juggernaut built by Boeing (designed by Canuks).

The Spacecraft Bus was Boeing's. I believed the payload was designed by
Spar. I worked on the E series Aniks. On the E's the Bus was GE's (was
actually designed by RCA, now owned by Lockheed) the payload on the E
series was also designed by Spar. I spent time at both of Spar's
facilities
in Ottawa and Montreal. What a pain in the ass that program was.
-JATO
http://jatobservatory.org



So what's your point?



My point is the Canuks as you say didn't design the whole spacecraft.
-JATO
http://jatobservatory.org

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 05:20:05 GMT, "Mick" wrote:




ANIK F2
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...2/anik_f2.html
went up last year as a second generation
juggernaut built by Boeing (designed by Canuks).

The Spacecraft Bus was Boeing's. I believed the payload was designed by
Spar. I worked on the E series Aniks. On the E's the Bus was GE's (was
actually designed by RCA, now owned by Lockheed) the payload on the E
series was also designed by Spar. I spent time at both of Spar's
facilities
in Ottawa and Montreal. What a pain in the ass that program was.
-JATO
http://jatobservatory.org



So what's your point?



My point is the Canuks as you say didn't design the whole spacecraft.
-JATO


I thought that Boeing assembles it according to specifications provided by
the customer. The customer being
the CSA since Canada doesn't manufacture at that level. A joint venture it
seems fr sure.