Starlink satellite pass

[Andymod]

There is a starlink satellites pass tonight at 10pm.

 

https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/

Edited 20 April, 2020 by Andymod

[john999boy]

46 minutes ago, Andymod said:

There is a starling satellites pass tonight at 10pm.

https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/

You certainly had me wondering what that was for a while!

Maybe I should have 'tweeted' to find the answer!

 

P.S. I'll update the thread title too.

[Andymod]

4 minutes ago, john999boy said:

You certainly had me wondering what that was for a while!

Maybe I should have 'tweeted' to find the answer!

 

P.S. I'll update the thread title too.

Thanks, it's that damn autocorrect

[mac11irl]

I still dont know what starlink is...

931pm for me though...

[john999boy]

I've just sorted out the photo equipment to hopefully catch the experience. 📹

[mac11irl]

well... I missed it by 4 mins

 

 

i googled it to remind myself what it is

 

Edited 20 April, 2020 by mac11irl

[john999boy]

Even though it was quite a clear sky, I only managed to see a couple that weren't very bright at all. I'll check the video to see if anything is visible.

[skomaz]

Saw a few here whilst looking for the meteor shower

[Gaz]

17 minutes ago, john999boy said:

Even though it was quite a clear sky, I only managed to see a couple that weren't very bright at all. I'll check the video to see if anything is visible.

 

Likewise.  Was outside from 9:58pm for 25 mins and saw two satellites following the expected track, about five minutes apart, both nowhere near as bright as the ISS.  Certainly didn't see a line of them.  Bit of haze and a couple of patches of cloud, but the stars were visible, and is that Mars out WNW?

 

Gaz

[john999boy]

1 hour ago, john999boy said:

I'll check the video to see if anything is visible.

Reminder to self. Night-time video is rubbish - use camera instead and look for satellite streaks!

 

However I did take this photo prior to doing the (now deleted) video.

 

46 minutes ago, IamGaz said:

but the stars were visible, and is that Mars out WNW?

Venus is not too far above the horizon in that direction.

[Wet Kipper]

clouded over from about 9pm last night, so didn't bother popping out for a look.

will try again tonight - plus have a new camera with much improved ISO range on the previous one, so will try and get photos of *something* if not the trails.

I've got a war and peace worth of manual to get through before then to work out how to best set it up.

[skomaz]

Oooh - good idea - I had the bino's out last night looking at the stars etc but may well get the spotting scope an a tripod out tonight to hold them both steady

[Wet Kipper]

wading through some of the manual - thanks to the index - looks like I can take multi-exposure shots where it will only add sections from later exposures if they are brighter than the initial exposure. Sounds about perfect for making star trails or satellite trails on top of each other

[john999boy]

4 minutes ago, Wet Kipper said:

wading through some of the manual - thanks to the index - looks like I can take multi-exposure shots where it will only add sections from later exposures if they are brighter than the initial exposure. Sounds about perfect for making star trails or satellite trails on top of each other

Either that or using a remote trigger (or a timed start) to ensure you don't have any camera shake whatsoever together with a long exposure.

I'm setting up in the middle of a field for tonight's event to see if I can get a bit darker environment. Hopefully 9pm will be sufficiently dark too.

[mac11irl]

I didnt realise they were back around again.

as to the very very bright body almost due west, it's pretty high above the horizon where I am and it is really really bright... but yes it Venus, checked the sky map 

[Wet Kipper]

yep was already planning to do long exposures - but had only just hit on the idea of multi exposure in same frame "in camera" rather than taking lots of (for example) 30s long shots (to catch multiple satellites) and then stitching them into 1 overlapping image using Photoshop etc.

 

 

[Wet Kipper]

First pass for this evening is 9pm.

Might not be dark enough to see them properly up here atvrhat point. 

Next set 10:36

[Wet Kipper]

https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink

[john999boy]

There's been a bit of discussion online about why yesterday's pass wasn't too good. Hopefully tonight's will be better and the 22:36 one should nearly be directly overhead for me.

[Gaz]

We've just counted 20.  Went directly overhead.

 

Gaz

[john999boy]

A slight cloud for me but saw quite a few - not bright enough for the camera to spot though. 

[john999boy]

1 hour ago, john999boy said:

A slight cloud for me but saw quite a few - not bright enough for the camera to spot though. 

Upon closer inspection, it appears that I was mistaken! Click on the photos to zoom in.

Three short trails visible in the 21:01 photo.

Just one (top left) from the 22:36 pass. Not quite as many satellites visible either.

 

[skomaz]

Saw some satellites but no meteors...

[john999boy]

20 minutes ago, skomaz said:

Saw some satellites but no meteors...

Aren’t they supposed to peak over the next 3 hours?

[skomaz]

Just now, john999boy said:

Aren’t they supposed to peak over the next 3 hours?

 

Yeah but starting to struggle to keep my eyes open and need to be up for work in the morning...   wondeif i need to get a couple of hour's kip and set an alarm to hae another look later on