On May 3rd, I found two unidentified geostationary objects close to Galaxy 27 and Intelsat 12 (see report and pictures here).
One, UNID-I, was stable in brightness. The other, UNID-II, was flashing. I imaged UNID-I the next night (May 4th) as well, showing it drifting westwards. I might have imaged UNID-II again too, though misidentifying it at that time as Intelsat 12 (except for the occasionally very bright UNID-II, the objects were, due to worse observing conditions, at the edge of detectability).
At that time (see the link above) there already was some suspicion that UNID-I could be the enigmatic classified geostationary satellite PAN (09-047A), caught in the act of yet another relocation.
That suspicion is now confirmed, following additional imaging by Peter Wakelin from the UK on May 8th. Still drifting when I picked it up on May 3rd, PAN now appears to have settled in a new position at 44.9 E, just west of Galaxy 27 and Intelsat 12. It has moved 2 degrees higher in my local sky, to an altitude of 19 degrees.
The identity of the second, flashing UNID, UNID-II which is still drifting westwards on May 8th, is still uncertain. While it is possibly the Indian communication satellite GSat-2 (03-018A) in the act of relocating, Space-Track still lists that object stable in its usual orbit slot placing it at 48 E. So we have something of a remaining mystery to solve there (although in the end, it will probably turn out to be Gsat-2, with Space-Track for some reason failing yet to recognize it is being moved).
UPDATE 09/05/2011: about an hour after I posted this, Space-Track updated the orbit for Gsat-2, showing that UNID-II is indeed Gsat-2, probably on it's way to the graveyard orbit. So, it appears I beat Space-Track to it by several days!
PAN (09-047A) has a history of frequent relocations, making this already enigmatic satellite the more enigmatic. Previous to this early May 2011 relocation, it relocated in early December 2010, an event that I was the first person to detect as well. So far, it has been located at 33.0 E from late 2009 to May 2010 and then was moved to 38.0 E; then to 49.0 E in December 2010; and now to 44.9 E in May 2011.
Showing posts with label geostationary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label geostationary. Show all posts
Monday, 9 May 2011
Thursday, 5 May 2011
[UPDATED] Two Unidentified Geostationary Objects on May 3 and 4
May 3 was an unusually clear evening, and I decided to target a few classified geostationary satellites, using the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 2.8/180mm.
While imaging the region of PAN (09-047A) and Mentor 4 (09-001A), I found two unidentified objects. Yes: two.
The first object, UNID-I, was discovered close to the commercial geosats Galaxy 27 (99-052A) and Intelsat 12 (00-068A). It was present on multiple images, and the astrometry shows it is stable in declination. It was about as bright as the two commercial geosats, and stable in brightness.
The plot thickened, when a second unidentified object, UNID-II, was discovered just east of the first, just north of the commercial geostationary Syracuse 3A (05-041B). This object was irregular in brightness, alternating between faint and very bright (comparable to Mentor 4 at peak brightness, i.e. about mag. +8).
Below image shows UNID-I near Galaxy 27 and Intelsat 12:
The two images below show UNID-II near Syracuse 3A, and the clear flaring behaviour of the UNID.
On May 4th, the sky quality was poorer. Nevertheless I tried to recover the two objects, with partial success: UNID-II was captured again on several images.
It had drifted westwards, closer to Galaxy 27 and Intelsat 12 towards the position of UNID-I. The latter was not visible on the images, most likely due to the poor sky quality (Galaxy 27 and Intelsat 12 were barely visible either).
The object showed a clear variable brightness behaviour, being invisible in one image and very bright in the next one taken 30s later. Together with the slowly changing declination, this shows that the object is likely UNID-II, not UNID-I.
Below images were taken 30 seconds apart: the object is bright in one, and invisible in the other:
In the series of images, it is present in the following images:
from - to (UTC, May 4th)
---------------------------------------
21:03:02.30 - 21:03:12.35
21:04:02.30 - 21:04:12.35 - very bright
21:05:02.30 - 21:05:12.35
21:07:32.30 - 21:07:42.35
21:08:02.30 - 21:08:12.35
21:08:32.30 - 21:08:42.35 - very bright
21:11:02.30 - 21:11:12.35
21:12:02.30 - 21:12:12.35
21:13:02.30 - 21:13:12.35 - very bright
21:14:02.30 - 21:14:12.35 - very bright
---------------------------------------
As can be seen, there is a clear semi-1 minute periodicity in this.
I have no idea as to the true identity of these two objects. As I could find no trace of PAN (09-047A) near Yamal 202 on my May 3rd images, it is possible that UNID-I is PAN once again relocating.
The presence of a second, tumbling/spinning object, UNID-II, close to it however suggests that more is going on. Finding two UNID's close together is definitely weird and might suggest a connection between the two objects.
UNID-II has a small but clear inclination to it's orbit and appears to be drifting westwards. UNID-I is stable in declination, indicating an inclination close to zero. It might be drifting as well (only more observations will tell, given that I failed to find it on May 4th).
UPDATE 5-5-2011:
Ted Molczan feels UNID-II (the flashing one) could be the Indian commercial geosat Gsat 2 (03-018A) in the act of relocating. UNID-I could indeed well be, as I suggested in my report on Satobs, the classified geosat PAN (09-047A) relocating, according to Mike McCants. I captured the same satellite relocating in December last year: this enigmatic satellite is frequently on the move.
While imaging the region of PAN (09-047A) and Mentor 4 (09-001A), I found two unidentified objects. Yes: two.
The first object, UNID-I, was discovered close to the commercial geosats Galaxy 27 (99-052A) and Intelsat 12 (00-068A). It was present on multiple images, and the astrometry shows it is stable in declination. It was about as bright as the two commercial geosats, and stable in brightness.
The plot thickened, when a second unidentified object, UNID-II, was discovered just east of the first, just north of the commercial geostationary Syracuse 3A (05-041B). This object was irregular in brightness, alternating between faint and very bright (comparable to Mentor 4 at peak brightness, i.e. about mag. +8).
Below image shows UNID-I near Galaxy 27 and Intelsat 12:
click image to enlarge
The two images below show UNID-II near Syracuse 3A, and the clear flaring behaviour of the UNID.
click image to enlarge
On May 4th, the sky quality was poorer. Nevertheless I tried to recover the two objects, with partial success: UNID-II was captured again on several images.
It had drifted westwards, closer to Galaxy 27 and Intelsat 12 towards the position of UNID-I. The latter was not visible on the images, most likely due to the poor sky quality (Galaxy 27 and Intelsat 12 were barely visible either).
The object showed a clear variable brightness behaviour, being invisible in one image and very bright in the next one taken 30s later. Together with the slowly changing declination, this shows that the object is likely UNID-II, not UNID-I.
Below images were taken 30 seconds apart: the object is bright in one, and invisible in the other:
click image to enlarge
In the series of images, it is present in the following images:
from - to (UTC, May 4th)
---------------------------------------
21:03:02.30 - 21:03:12.35
21:04:02.30 - 21:04:12.35 - very bright
21:05:02.30 - 21:05:12.35
21:07:32.30 - 21:07:42.35
21:08:02.30 - 21:08:12.35
21:08:32.30 - 21:08:42.35 - very bright
21:11:02.30 - 21:11:12.35
21:12:02.30 - 21:12:12.35
21:13:02.30 - 21:13:12.35 - very bright
21:14:02.30 - 21:14:12.35 - very bright
---------------------------------------
As can be seen, there is a clear semi-1 minute periodicity in this.
I have no idea as to the true identity of these two objects. As I could find no trace of PAN (09-047A) near Yamal 202 on my May 3rd images, it is possible that UNID-I is PAN once again relocating.
The presence of a second, tumbling/spinning object, UNID-II, close to it however suggests that more is going on. Finding two UNID's close together is definitely weird and might suggest a connection between the two objects.
UNID-II has a small but clear inclination to it's orbit and appears to be drifting westwards. UNID-I is stable in declination, indicating an inclination close to zero. It might be drifting as well (only more observations will tell, given that I failed to find it on May 4th).
UPDATE 5-5-2011:
Ted Molczan feels UNID-II (the flashing one) could be the Indian commercial geosat Gsat 2 (03-018A) in the act of relocating. UNID-I could indeed well be, as I suggested in my report on Satobs, the classified geosat PAN (09-047A) relocating, according to Mike McCants. I captured the same satellite relocating in December last year: this enigmatic satellite is frequently on the move.
Saturday, 5 March 2011
It's geosat flare season! (1)
Around this time of the year, just before spring equinox, the sun is moving through the orbital plane of the geostationary belt. As a result, two things happen:
(1) directly opposite the sun, geostationary satellites "disappear"in the earth shadow for a while;
(2) just before that, they can flare brightly (sometimes to naked eye magnitudes).
Last two evenings I spent some time photographing the relevant part of the geostationary belt, using the EF 2.5/50mm (24 x 18 degrees FOV).
Normally, this lens has too small an aperture to capture geosats (with the exception of the very bright Mentor's). But in the geosat flare season, scores of brightening geosats turn up on the images!
Below animated GIF shows Eutelsat W4 (left) and W7 (right). Both are flaring (normally I need the Zeiss 180mm lens to capture them!), and especially W7 becomes very bright near 21:04 UTC (March 4, 2011). The animation has been made using a series of 12 images taken at approximately 2 min intervals (Canon EOS 450D + EF 2.5/50mm Macro @ F2.8, 800 ISO, 10s):
The "wobble" of W7 is not real, but an effect of small changes in the camera tilt over the series (sorry, tripod was on a bumpy field of grass).
Below image is a crop from a single photograph (one of the series that also contained both Eutelsats above) taken around 4 March 20:46 UTC showing Turksat 2A and 3A both flaring, with Turksat 3A being extremely bright (it was visible by the naked eye). Twenty minutes later, both had become invisible due to entry in the earth's shadow:
(1) directly opposite the sun, geostationary satellites "disappear"in the earth shadow for a while;
(2) just before that, they can flare brightly (sometimes to naked eye magnitudes).
Last two evenings I spent some time photographing the relevant part of the geostationary belt, using the EF 2.5/50mm (24 x 18 degrees FOV).
Normally, this lens has too small an aperture to capture geosats (with the exception of the very bright Mentor's). But in the geosat flare season, scores of brightening geosats turn up on the images!
Below animated GIF shows Eutelsat W4 (left) and W7 (right). Both are flaring (normally I need the Zeiss 180mm lens to capture them!), and especially W7 becomes very bright near 21:04 UTC (March 4, 2011). The animation has been made using a series of 12 images taken at approximately 2 min intervals (Canon EOS 450D + EF 2.5/50mm Macro @ F2.8, 800 ISO, 10s):
The "wobble" of W7 is not real, but an effect of small changes in the camera tilt over the series (sorry, tripod was on a bumpy field of grass).
Below image is a crop from a single photograph (one of the series that also contained both Eutelsats above) taken around 4 March 20:46 UTC showing Turksat 2A and 3A both flaring, with Turksat 3A being extremely bright (it was visible by the naked eye). Twenty minutes later, both had become invisible due to entry in the earth's shadow:
click image to enlarge
Monday, 3 January 2011
PAN (no longer drifting) on January 2nd 2011
As I discovered on December 8th 2010 (see here), PAN had started to drift away from it's old position at 38.0 E on 2010 December 1st (see here).
Greg Roberts in South Africa and me in the Netherlands followed it drifting eastwards at a rate of about 0.5 degrees/day over mid-December 2010. I dropped out of the chase after December 14th, when a long period of wintery weather with snow started in the Netherlands.
On December 27th, Greg failed to recover it at the position projected by the drift rate and surmissed it had stopped drifting. He confirmed this on December 29th, when he found it in position 49.0 E. It has stayed in that stable position since.
Below diagram shows that it reached that position at 2010 December 24.2:
Yesterday evening (2 January 2011) I managed to image PAN in it's new 49.0 E position during a short period of clearings:
I am happy the drift has stopped, as PAN otherwise would have slowly drifted out of my reach. In it's new position, it is lower and more to the northeast in the sky for me: actually it is now quite low at an altitude of only 17.9 degrees (just above tree-top and roof-top level for my locality), 5 degrees lower in altitude and 11.3 degrees more eastward in azimuth than it was in November 2010.
Below diagram shows the change in azimuth and altitude between late November 2010 (right) and now (left).
Greg Roberts in South Africa and me in the Netherlands followed it drifting eastwards at a rate of about 0.5 degrees/day over mid-December 2010. I dropped out of the chase after December 14th, when a long period of wintery weather with snow started in the Netherlands.
On December 27th, Greg failed to recover it at the position projected by the drift rate and surmissed it had stopped drifting. He confirmed this on December 29th, when he found it in position 49.0 E. It has stayed in that stable position since.
Below diagram shows that it reached that position at 2010 December 24.2:
click diagram to enlarge
Yesterday evening (2 January 2011) I managed to image PAN in it's new 49.0 E position during a short period of clearings:
click image to enlarge
I am happy the drift has stopped, as PAN otherwise would have slowly drifted out of my reach. In it's new position, it is lower and more to the northeast in the sky for me: actually it is now quite low at an altitude of only 17.9 degrees (just above tree-top and roof-top level for my locality), 5 degrees lower in altitude and 11.3 degrees more eastward in azimuth than it was in November 2010.
Below diagram shows the change in azimuth and altitude between late November 2010 (right) and now (left).
click diagram to enlarge
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
A satellite in the "fish mouth" of Orion's nebula, and nine geosats in one image
Sunday evening, I shot a number of images of the geostationary belt in Orion using the Carl Zeiss Jena 2.8/180 mm lens. This yielded amongst others a very pretty picture of the Milstar 6 r/b (03-013B), snapped when it was located spot on in the dark "fish mouth" area of M42, the Orion nebula:
The image below shows a full image shot, measuring 6.8 x 5 degrees. It shows as much as 9 geostationary satellites (3 classified and 6 commercial) in the same image. Numbered boxes refer to the detail images below the main image. Note how many of them (boxes 3 to 6) line up along declination -7.3 degrees, in a line from bottom left to upper right.
click image to enlarge
The image below shows a full image shot, measuring 6.8 x 5 degrees. It shows as much as 9 geostationary satellites (3 classified and 6 commercial) in the same image. Numbered boxes refer to the detail images below the main image. Note how many of them (boxes 3 to 6) line up along declination -7.3 degrees, in a line from bottom left to upper right.
click on image to enlarge
Mystery satellite "UNKNOWN 101208" is PAN!
Those of you following this observing blog and the Satobs list, will be aware of the observations of the past week of what appeared to be an unknown geostationary satellite.
It was first observed on December 8th by me, and next by Greg Roberts as well (see here for the discovery, as well as here, and here for the follow-up).
It was first thought to be perhaps DSCS 3-11, but that turned out to be incorrect. So it was a bit of a mystery, as no recent launch was a candidate either. And geosats just don't "materialize" in the sky. Obviously, this was an older geosat being relocated: but which one?!
The mystery has now been solved, by Greg Roberts. The satellite is PAN (2009-047A), relocating to a position more to the east.
Greg imaged the old position of PAN (close to Paksat 1) on the 12th, but couldn't detect it. So he made the obvious conclusion: PAN was gone and identical to the eastwards drifting satellite we called "Unknown 101208" since December 8th.
I can actually confirm Greg's result of the 12th: I imaged the "old" position as well that same evening and like Greg find no trace of PAN, only Paksat 1 is present.
So how about my "observation" of PAN near the "old" position on December 8th, the same evening that I first spotted "Unknown 101208"?!?
It is very embarasing, but I turn out te have been fooled by an image artefact! With hindsight, I should have been suspicious: the little dot I thought was PAN was quite faint, and visible on only one out of 2 images. This unlike my November 28th observations, when the true PAN clearly showed up in its "old" position on multiple images.
Below image shows the image artefact that fooled me on the 8th (the insets show details of this image, and a second image taken 20 seconds later on the same evening which only shows Paksat 1 - which with hindsight should have warned me).
Here is another image, showing PAN and Paksat 1 on November 28, and Paksat 1 with PAN no longer present on December 12th.
With the current drift rate of just under 0.5 deg/day, PAN probably started to relocate on or around December 1st.
It was first observed on December 8th by me, and next by Greg Roberts as well (see here for the discovery, as well as here, and here for the follow-up).
It was first thought to be perhaps DSCS 3-11, but that turned out to be incorrect. So it was a bit of a mystery, as no recent launch was a candidate either. And geosats just don't "materialize" in the sky. Obviously, this was an older geosat being relocated: but which one?!
The mystery has now been solved, by Greg Roberts. The satellite is PAN (2009-047A), relocating to a position more to the east.
Greg imaged the old position of PAN (close to Paksat 1) on the 12th, but couldn't detect it. So he made the obvious conclusion: PAN was gone and identical to the eastwards drifting satellite we called "Unknown 101208" since December 8th.
I can actually confirm Greg's result of the 12th: I imaged the "old" position as well that same evening and like Greg find no trace of PAN, only Paksat 1 is present.
So how about my "observation" of PAN near the "old" position on December 8th, the same evening that I first spotted "Unknown 101208"?!?
It is very embarasing, but I turn out te have been fooled by an image artefact! With hindsight, I should have been suspicious: the little dot I thought was PAN was quite faint, and visible on only one out of 2 images. This unlike my November 28th observations, when the true PAN clearly showed up in its "old" position on multiple images.
Below image shows the image artefact that fooled me on the 8th (the insets show details of this image, and a second image taken 20 seconds later on the same evening which only shows Paksat 1 - which with hindsight should have warned me).
click image to enlarge
Here is another image, showing PAN and Paksat 1 on November 28, and Paksat 1 with PAN no longer present on December 12th.
click image to enlarge
With the current drift rate of just under 0.5 deg/day, PAN probably started to relocate on or around December 1st.
Sunday, 12 December 2010
Recovering SDS 3-3 (USA 179) and following the UNKNOWN 101208 geosat
Our amateur network had lost track recently of the HEO satellite SDS 3-3 (USA 179, 2004-034A), so it had to be recovered. Radio doppler shift data by an amateur remaining anonymous provided enough information to Ted Molczan to issue a search orbit for visual or camera recovery.
Last evening started clear, and I quickly recovered it very close to Ted's predicted search orbit position. It was about 0.3 degrees off from the latter, so a very neat result! See the image below, the first in a series I shot yesterday with the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 2.8/180mm:
After imaging another HEO too, the ELINT USA 184 (2006-027A), clouds came in. The situation turned very dynamic, with the sky going from clear to clouded to clear in a matter of minutes.
I wanted to see if I could image the 'mystery geostationary satellite' which I discovered on 8 December again, a satellite that has now been temporarily designated as Unknown 101208. With my initial December 8 observations and Greg Robert's December 9 & 10 observations, Mike could fit a reasonably good orbit:
Under very dynamic conditions, I managed to take advantage of a clearing that lasted literally only minutes (!) to capture it again last evening, along with a few others in the same image. The latter objects were the Milstar 6 r/b (2003-012B) and Mentor 4 (USA 202, 2009-001A), and in addition the non-classified geostationaries Turksat 2A & 3A, Thuraya 2 and Express AM-1.
While the image quality was bad (quite fogged images), the object clearly showed up. Below is one of the images, showing the mystery satellite with the Turksat duo. Compare to the December 8th picture here, when the mystery satellite was still west of the Turksats:
Last evening started clear, and I quickly recovered it very close to Ted's predicted search orbit position. It was about 0.3 degrees off from the latter, so a very neat result! See the image below, the first in a series I shot yesterday with the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 2.8/180mm:
click image to enlarge
After imaging another HEO too, the ELINT USA 184 (2006-027A), clouds came in. The situation turned very dynamic, with the sky going from clear to clouded to clear in a matter of minutes.
I wanted to see if I could image the 'mystery geostationary satellite' which I discovered on 8 December again, a satellite that has now been temporarily designated as Unknown 101208. With my initial December 8 observations and Greg Robert's December 9 & 10 observations, Mike could fit a reasonably good orbit:
Unknown 101208The object is drifting eastward at a rate of about 0.5 degrees/day and is now well east of the Turksat 2A & 3A duo (it was west of them when I discovered it on the 8th). It's identity still remains a mystery. Early ideas about it being a DSCS relocating, can now be dismissed.
1 99991U 10344.69054052 0.00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 03
2 99991 0.0670 10.3484 0003000 147.2004 212.7996 1.00405600 05
Under very dynamic conditions, I managed to take advantage of a clearing that lasted literally only minutes (!) to capture it again last evening, along with a few others in the same image. The latter objects were the Milstar 6 r/b (2003-012B) and Mentor 4 (USA 202, 2009-001A), and in addition the non-classified geostationaries Turksat 2A & 3A, Thuraya 2 and Express AM-1.
While the image quality was bad (quite fogged images), the object clearly showed up. Below is one of the images, showing the mystery satellite with the Turksat duo. Compare to the December 8th picture here, when the mystery satellite was still west of the Turksats:
click image to enlarge
Friday, 10 December 2010
Update on the UNID geostationary: Greg observed it too!
On the evening of December 8, while imageing PAN, I captured an unknown object, apparently in a geostationary orbit, close to the commercial geostationary objects Turksat 2A and Turksat 3A. See my earlier report and pictures here.
Since then, I have been completely clouded out. However, Greg Roberts in South Africa had clear skies yesterday, and managed to recover the object. It has moved closer to the Turksat duo.
Greg is in some doubt whether this really is the "lost" SCS 3-11 (2000-001A ) as he feels it is too bright.
To be continued!!!!!
Since then, I have been completely clouded out. However, Greg Roberts in South Africa had clear skies yesterday, and managed to recover the object. It has moved closer to the Turksat duo.
Greg is in some doubt whether this really is the "lost" SCS 3-11 (2000-001A ) as he feels it is too bright.
To be continued!!!!!
Thursday, 9 December 2010
[UPDATED] An unidentified Geostationary or GTO object
UPDATE 9/12/2010:
Ted Molczan has identified the object as being likely DSCS 3-11 (00001A / 26052), last seen 178 days ago at another position.
UPDATE 14 Dec 2010: the object is PAN (09-047A), see here for the story of how this identification unfolded. PAN started to drift on Dec 1st.
---
This evening (December 8), while imaging PAN (09-047A) in a race against the clock with incoming clouds, I inadvertently imaged a UNID (unidentified object).
The object showed up in the images taken with the 2.8/180mm Carl Zeiss Sonnar. It is located about 0.5 degrees West of the commercial geostationary duo Turksat 2A and Turksat 3A. So far, I cannot find a match for it with any known (classified or unclassified) object. Below are the two images, taken 20 seconds apart:
It is either a geostationary object, or an object in Gestationary Transfer Orbit close to its apogee.
It got clouded shortly after this image series, so after discovering the object on the imagery I had no opportunity to go out and make additional images for more positions.
The two positions gathered are (in IOD format):
99999 10 342A 4353 G 20101208210402300 17 75 0513341-072580 56
99999 10 342A 4353 G 20101208210422300 17 75 0513542-072590 56
Ted Molczan has identified the object as being likely DSCS 3-11 (00001A / 26052), last seen 178 days ago at another position.
UPDATE 14 Dec 2010: the object is PAN (09-047A), see here for the story of how this identification unfolded. PAN started to drift on Dec 1st.
---
This evening (December 8), while imaging PAN (09-047A) in a race against the clock with incoming clouds, I inadvertently imaged a UNID (unidentified object).
The object showed up in the images taken with the 2.8/180mm Carl Zeiss Sonnar. It is located about 0.5 degrees West of the commercial geostationary duo Turksat 2A and Turksat 3A. So far, I cannot find a match for it with any known (classified or unclassified) object. Below are the two images, taken 20 seconds apart:
click image to enlarge
It is either a geostationary object, or an object in Gestationary Transfer Orbit close to its apogee.
It got clouded shortly after this image series, so after discovering the object on the imagery I had no opportunity to go out and make additional images for more positions.
The two positions gathered are (in IOD format):
99999 10 342A 4353 G 20101208210402300 17 75 0513341-072580 56
99999 10 342A 4353 G 20101208210422300 17 75 0513542-072590 56
Monday, 29 November 2010
PAN and other geostationary satellites in a frosty winter sky
Last Sunday evening, the pass of the Terra SAR X and Tandem X close duo posted earlier here and a pass of Lacrosse 4 shortly after that, were not the only observations I made. Somewhat later that night, I targetted several geostationary satellites, using both the Canon EF 2.5/50 mm Macro lens and the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 2.8/180 mm lens (the latter for the first time on geostationary objects).
The image above, taken with the EF 2.5/50mm lens, shows two geostationary objects close to the Orion nebula.
One is the classified object USA 202/Mentor 4 (2009-001A), a big SIGINT geostationary satellite with a brightness of about mag. +8. It has featured on this observing blog earlier. The other one, Galaxy 8 (1997-078A), is a commercial communications satellite and was captured serendipitously in the same image while it was brightly but briefly flashing. It is not visible in an image taken 30 seconds later (and only faintly visible in an image taken 3.5 minutes earlier).
I also imaged the mysterious classified geostationary PAN (2009-047A) for the first time, using the new Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 2.8/180 mm lens. Below image shows it together with the nearby commercial geostationary satellites Paksat 1 (1996-006A) and Hellas-sat 2 (2003-020A).
PAN is a very mysterious object, the mysteries surrounding the 2009 launch being discussed at length by Dwayne Day in his Space Review article here. The mystery was (and is), that no Agency (neither NRO, USAF, US Navy nor CIA) claimed responsibility for the launch. Owner and role are hence unknown. There was much speculation about the possible role of the spacecraft, and the meaning of the acronym PAN. The latter got at least one "solution" when the launch patch (below) appeared, suggesting PAN stood for "Palladium At Night". Whatever that may mean.
The same images that contained PAN, Paksat and Hellas-sat 2 also contained the very faint trail of a Breeze-M tank (2009-050C) and two more geostationary satellites: Eutelsat W4 and Eutelsat W7 (2000-028A and 2009-065A). This all in an image only a few degrees wide!
Last but not least, the classified geostationary communicatiosn satellite Milstar 5 (2002-001A) was imaged. In the same image(s), two other, commercial geostationary satellites were visible: Galaxy 11 (1999-071A) and Inmarsat 4-F2 (2005-044A). A rich haul of geostationary objects, obtained at mildly frosty temperatures of -2.5 C!
click image to enlarge
The image above, taken with the EF 2.5/50mm lens, shows two geostationary objects close to the Orion nebula.
One is the classified object USA 202/Mentor 4 (2009-001A), a big SIGINT geostationary satellite with a brightness of about mag. +8. It has featured on this observing blog earlier. The other one, Galaxy 8 (1997-078A), is a commercial communications satellite and was captured serendipitously in the same image while it was brightly but briefly flashing. It is not visible in an image taken 30 seconds later (and only faintly visible in an image taken 3.5 minutes earlier).
I also imaged the mysterious classified geostationary PAN (2009-047A) for the first time, using the new Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 2.8/180 mm lens. Below image shows it together with the nearby commercial geostationary satellites Paksat 1 (1996-006A) and Hellas-sat 2 (2003-020A).
click image to enlarge
PAN is a very mysterious object, the mysteries surrounding the 2009 launch being discussed at length by Dwayne Day in his Space Review article here. The mystery was (and is), that no Agency (neither NRO, USAF, US Navy nor CIA) claimed responsibility for the launch. Owner and role are hence unknown. There was much speculation about the possible role of the spacecraft, and the meaning of the acronym PAN. The latter got at least one "solution" when the launch patch (below) appeared, suggesting PAN stood for "Palladium At Night". Whatever that may mean.
The same images that contained PAN, Paksat and Hellas-sat 2 also contained the very faint trail of a Breeze-M tank (2009-050C) and two more geostationary satellites: Eutelsat W4 and Eutelsat W7 (2000-028A and 2009-065A). This all in an image only a few degrees wide!
click image to enlarge
Last but not least, the classified geostationary communicatiosn satellite Milstar 5 (2002-001A) was imaged. In the same image(s), two other, commercial geostationary satellites were visible: Galaxy 11 (1999-071A) and Inmarsat 4-F2 (2005-044A). A rich haul of geostationary objects, obtained at mildly frosty temperatures of -2.5 C!
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
USA 202 and other geostationaries, and a stroboscopic show by USA 81
I am awfully behind with reporting on my observations.
In deep twilight on June 2nd, I observed USA 81 (92-023A) briefly attaining easy naked eye magnitudes in Bootes, and firing off a rapid series of flashes. The trails on both images covering this episode of bright stroboscopic behaviour partly run off the image, as I re-aimed in (too much of) a hurry. I still have to analyse the flash period. But it was impressive to see:
Apart from two Lacrosses, I also targetted the geostationary satellite Milstar 5 (02-001A) again. below image shows it together with the commercial geosats Galaxy 11 and Intelsat 802:
I also imaged another classified geostationary satellite, USA 202 (09-001A), and ELINT satellite (probably a Mentor/Advanced Orion). I had not realised it was so bright, so initially I thought the faint object on below image was USA 202 and the brighter one the commercial geosat Thuraya 2. However, the brighter object is USA 202, as it turns out (hence, the questionmarks still in below image can be removed). The satellite is at an altitude of only 17.5 degrees in the south-southeast for mu location.
In deep twilight on June 2nd, I observed USA 81 (92-023A) briefly attaining easy naked eye magnitudes in Bootes, and firing off a rapid series of flashes. The trails on both images covering this episode of bright stroboscopic behaviour partly run off the image, as I re-aimed in (too much of) a hurry. I still have to analyse the flash period. But it was impressive to see:
click images to enlarge
Apart from two Lacrosses, I also targetted the geostationary satellite Milstar 5 (02-001A) again. below image shows it together with the commercial geosats Galaxy 11 and Intelsat 802:
click image to enlarge
I also imaged another classified geostationary satellite, USA 202 (09-001A), and ELINT satellite (probably a Mentor/Advanced Orion). I had not realised it was so bright, so initially I thought the faint object on below image was USA 202 and the brighter one the commercial geosat Thuraya 2. However, the brighter object is USA 202, as it turns out (hence, the questionmarks still in below image can be removed). The satellite is at an altitude of only 17.5 degrees in the south-southeast for mu location.
click image to enlarge
Thursday, 27 May 2010
An IGS 1B flare, and Geostationary satellites again
Last evening 25-26 May was not the best of evenings: cirrus, and moonlight, plus this time of the year the sky darkens late and in fact remains in twilight all night at 52 N.
In twilight, I observed the KH-12 KeyHole USA 186 (05-042A), IGS 1B (03-009B), and Lacrosse 4 (00-047A). Short after midnight, the still flaring commercial geostationary satellite Galaxy 11 (99-071A) and the classified military geostationary satellite Milstar 5 (02-001A) were the target.
IGS 1B slowly flared to mag. -0.5 at about 21:15:48.5 UTC (May 25), while the camera was open. below photograph shows the brightnes speak, when it was cruising close to the Coma cluster:
IGS 1B is a defunct Japanese Radar Reconnaissance satellite. Since it went out of control, it is producing flares occasionally (sometimes up to mag. -3 to -5 peak brightness).
Galaxy 11 was flaring again, but is getting fainter at its peak. If my modelling is right, it might flare again in a new cycle around the 3rd week of July. Below link provides an animated GIF of last night covering 20 minutes with the geosat flaring up. Milstar 5 is in it as well, moving southward.
Link: animated GIF ( 5.5 Mb)
Around 22:10 UTC, Intelsat 802 (97-031A) briefly flares up close to Galaxy 11. It stays faint, but is visible. The single image below might help discern it:
In twilight, I observed the KH-12 KeyHole USA 186 (05-042A), IGS 1B (03-009B), and Lacrosse 4 (00-047A). Short after midnight, the still flaring commercial geostationary satellite Galaxy 11 (99-071A) and the classified military geostationary satellite Milstar 5 (02-001A) were the target.
IGS 1B slowly flared to mag. -0.5 at about 21:15:48.5 UTC (May 25), while the camera was open. below photograph shows the brightnes speak, when it was cruising close to the Coma cluster:
click image to enlarge
IGS 1B is a defunct Japanese Radar Reconnaissance satellite. Since it went out of control, it is producing flares occasionally (sometimes up to mag. -3 to -5 peak brightness).
Galaxy 11 was flaring again, but is getting fainter at its peak. If my modelling is right, it might flare again in a new cycle around the 3rd week of July. Below link provides an animated GIF of last night covering 20 minutes with the geosat flaring up. Milstar 5 is in it as well, moving southward.
Link: animated GIF ( 5.5 Mb)
Around 22:10 UTC, Intelsat 802 (97-031A) briefly flares up close to Galaxy 11. It stays faint, but is visible. The single image below might help discern it:
click image to enlarge
Monday, 24 May 2010
Geostationary Galaxy 11 flaring to mag +2.5
In my post of yesterday, I reported a bright geostationary satellite flaring to naked eye brightness, observed by several Dutch and Belgian observers.
Below are my images of last night (taken with the EF 50/2.5 Macro). It shows two "stars" "too many" in Ophiuchus: a brighter one (A, vertical arrow) and a fainter one (B, flat arrow). The second image is a more detailed crop of the first, at full pixel level resolution.
The glare next to the tree in the wide field image, is due to a street lantern.
The satellite flaring to mag. +2.5 turns out to be Galaxy 11 (99-071A). It peaked near 22:18 UTC (23 May) and was visible with the naked eye at that moment, nothwithstanding it was low in the sky and I was observing from the city center.
The other object is Milstar 5 (02-001A) again. A faint trail of a non-geostationary satellite is visible as well: this turned out to be Globalstar 55 (99-049C).
Link: 2.2 MB animated GIF
Above link opens a 2.2 Mb animated gif with images from 22:10 to 22:19 UTC, which shows Galaxy 11 increasing in brightness. Milstar 5 is slowly drifting south.
A third geosat was captured on the images (not shown here), which is either Thuraya 2 (03-026A) or USA 202 (09-001A); probably the first.
Below are my images of last night (taken with the EF 50/2.5 Macro). It shows two "stars" "too many" in Ophiuchus: a brighter one (A, vertical arrow) and a fainter one (B, flat arrow). The second image is a more detailed crop of the first, at full pixel level resolution.
click images to enlarge
The glare next to the tree in the wide field image, is due to a street lantern.
The satellite flaring to mag. +2.5 turns out to be Galaxy 11 (99-071A). It peaked near 22:18 UTC (23 May) and was visible with the naked eye at that moment, nothwithstanding it was low in the sky and I was observing from the city center.
The other object is Milstar 5 (02-001A) again. A faint trail of a non-geostationary satellite is visible as well: this turned out to be Globalstar 55 (99-049C).
Link: 2.2 MB animated GIF
Above link opens a 2.2 Mb animated gif with images from 22:10 to 22:19 UTC, which shows Galaxy 11 increasing in brightness. Milstar 5 is slowly drifting south.
A third geosat was captured on the images (not shown here), which is either Thuraya 2 (03-026A) or USA 202 (09-001A); probably the first.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Two naked eye flaring Geosynchronous sats
Dutch meteor observer Peter van Leuteren contacted me this week as he had a strange bright stationary object on images of his photographic all-sky meteor fireball camera, appearing in Ophiuchus at around 22:18 UTC on 3 consecutive nights. The same object was also noted visually, at mag. about +2.5, by BWGS chairman Bram Dorreman. It was evidently a brightly flaring geosynchonous satellite.
After an alert on Dutch and Belgian astronomy mailing lists, several observers noted it as well.
I took images last night (22 May, 22:13 - 22:25 UTC) in hopes of catching it and identifying it from the position. I used the Canon 450D with the EF 50/2.5 Macro for that purpose.
Unfortunately, as it later turned out, "the" mystery geosat (for now) was hidden just behind some tree branches for me. A few degrees west of it, I however captured a second flaring geosat!
That one has now been identified by Bram and me, based on my photographic positions, as Milstar 5 (2001-001A, #27168). I have made a movie out of 13 images (10 second exposures) spaced one minute each. It can be seen here (1.4 Mb animated GIF)
The FOV of the movie is a small crop from the images, at full pixel level. The object is moving southwards at about 55"/minute.
After an alert on Dutch and Belgian astronomy mailing lists, several observers noted it as well.
I took images last night (22 May, 22:13 - 22:25 UTC) in hopes of catching it and identifying it from the position. I used the Canon 450D with the EF 50/2.5 Macro for that purpose.
Unfortunately, as it later turned out, "the" mystery geosat (for now) was hidden just behind some tree branches for me. A few degrees west of it, I however captured a second flaring geosat!
That one has now been identified by Bram and me, based on my photographic positions, as Milstar 5 (2001-001A, #27168). I have made a movie out of 13 images (10 second exposures) spaced one minute each. It can be seen here (1.4 Mb animated GIF)
The FOV of the movie is a small crop from the images, at full pixel level. The object is moving southwards at about 55"/minute.
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