Geostationary Satellites in a Night Sky Time-Lapse

woborny

woborny

Specialist Contributor
My Satellite Setup
1.8m Dish, most Sky and Freesat receivers, 80cm on Illusion motor and Dreambox DM7025, TDT, TDT HD, Ariva 100e,
My Location
Gandia, 70kms south of Valencia, Spain
What a great picture. And you can quite clearly see how the newer satellites are held in place whilst older satellites such as Astra 2D and, especially, Alphasat are moving vertically in an inclined mode as their fuel payload decreases and they are allowed to drift away from the optimum position.

But why no Astra 28? Maybe the BADR -4/5/6 is mislabelled?
 
Yes I can just make out the satellites by making the picture full screen excellent picture thanks.
 
Excellent work.
 
During 22 days around the equinoxes geostationary satellites can get eclipsed by the shadow of Earth (often called the eclipse season): the satellites disappear for up to 68 minutes. For the amateur astronomer such events open new opportunities for observations: the geostationary satellites dim during two minutes before they completely disappear in the umbra of Earth.


Monday 12 October 2015
Time (24-hour clock) Object (Link) Event
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 Observer Site Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
WGS84: Lon: -1d13m55.92s Lat: +54d31m17.76s Alt: 98m
All times in GMT or BST (during summer)
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19h32m12s
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Geosats flare season
Optimal day to observe flares from geostationary satellites! Geostationary satellites are usually very dim objects, comparable with Pluto. Today, some can get so bright for some minutes, that they can be seen with the unaided eye. Look for them at the optimal coordinates and time given below and with patience. The satellites will move slowly through the stellar field, about one or one cluster every 5 minutes.
And the Geostationary satellites get totally eclipsed tonight. They disappear completely in the shadow of Earth at about the same spot on the celestial sphere one after the other, about one satellite or cluster every 5 minutes. With a little patience this can be easily observed through a smaller telescope.
  • Umbral shadow eclipse: Satellites disappear at RA= 1h03m Dec=-6.5° and reappear at RA= 1h33m Dec=-6.5° Duration=32.3 minutes
  • Optimal coordinates to look for geostationary satellites at this time: RA= 0h59m Dec=-6.5°, az=104.4° h=2.2° (Penumbra eclipse begin) The Sun is at Dec=-7.4°, flare angle=2.8°
  • There is no optimal time to observe geostationary satellites. Observe them whenever you like during the night.

Artificial Satellites > Geostationary > Eclipse and Flare Season: For 23 days around equinox, geostationary satellites get eclipsed by the shadow of Earth. Just outside of the shadow, they can flare.
 
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