In anticipation of the upcoming geosat flaring season, I tried to remember what mistakes I made the first time I tried to see these objects, in hopes of helping others avoid some pratfalls. Once I started seeing these wonderful objects, they seemed so obvious I could not believe I missed them the first two seasons I tried (one fall and one spring). Sorry if any of this is obvious; it wasn't to me... 1. Don't look in the earth's shadow! For some reason, I was looking in the part of the sky at opposition to the sun. You will not see anything, trust me on this! Look about 5-10 degrees west of the shadow in the evening, and east in the morning. There is also a few objects that flare up at about 60 degrees "off" the main area; Ed Cannon has described these before, please see the See-Sat-L archives. 2. Identify a good asterism and sit on it, watching the satellites leisurely stroll by. In the fall, I use an asterism I call the "Little Box", located at about 0h 0m and -5 degrees. It consists of 27, 29, 30, and 33 Pisces. I first noticed this box years ago looking for Venus after a morning apparition like it's about to go through again this spring (so that would've been 3 x 8 or 24 years ago, when I first started the hobby). Spring doesn't offer such a neat little marker, but the top of the shape of Crater is useful, and Saturn is nearby. Please realize the position will be different if you are not at 36 N latitude like me...Jeff Umbarger has produced a graphical calculator that will help figure out your exact path of the flaring geosats. I believe this is described at http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Feb-2008/0329.html 3. Don't wait till the "best" day, or assume that's the only day. Flares can be seen for 2+ weeks before and after the optimum date, and there are some satellites in graveyard orbits that will flare up (I saw one Sunday night). Besides, there's a better chance you'll see flashing geosats during this time, IMO. 4. Just because you missed seeing a geosat flare up one night doesn't mean you won't see it the next. Phase angles and observing conditions change rapidly this time of year. 5. Seeing a geosat means either noticing a "star" that moves (if you're tracking the stars using your clock drive or go-to scope) or stays put (if you let the stars drift, like with a Dobsonian telescope). Either way, this can be a subtle sight if you're observing using low power. E.g., if your field of view is 1 degree (typical low power eyepiece), it will take 4 minutes for the satellite to drift across the field (or the stars, which ever applies). 6. Because of this, I determined I needed to use a telescope to really see these objects. It takes 24 minutes for a satellite to drift across the field of my binoculars, with a 6 degree field. Now that I have some more experience, I can use binoculars or even my eye alone for the bright, regular geosats that flare, but I strongly suggest starting with your scope if you have one. 7. IMHO, predictions using the HighEclipse version of HighFly (available on Mike McCants site) have helped me, as has Jeff Umbarger's graphical calculator (see #2 above). This is not meant to disparage other methods. 8. I would like to ask that you report anything you see (or don't) or forward any questions to me via this list or privately at allenb_young@yahoo.com You can use the format described at http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Oct-2008/0068.html or just describe in words what you see. Thanks, TULSA 1 COSPAR 8336: +36.128, -95.988, 650ft ASL ACT Observatory COSPAR 8335: +35.8311, -96.1411, 1100ft ASL Adams Ranch COSPAR 8337: +36.937, -96.65, 700ft ASL Kenton, OK COSPAR 8338: +36.8978, -102.9522, 4400ft ASL ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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