Satellites

[cav58d]

Last night I saw two objects at extreme altitude, as bright as a star, move across the sky at tremendous speed...Im positive this was not a commercial aircraft, nor do I think it was a military fighter at FL500/600...Is there any chance  that what I say was a satellite or the ISS?  Is it possible to see its light with the naked eye?

Furthermore, about how many satellites are in orbit around the earth???

thanks

[Sandman]

You probably saw a satellite. I guess it depends on where you live, but around here, it's really easy to see them. They're usually moving fast. They're dim but they seem to scintillate.

http://satobs.org/observe.html

http://www.atmos.albany.edu/deas/atmclasses/atm335/orbits.html

[Kaw1000]

NOOO  It was a UFO I saw it too,,,,and it landed in my back yard!!!and three little green men can out and shook my hand!!!
  I'll never was this hand again....!!!!:O

[Nash]

Originally posted by Sandman
They're dim but they seem to scintillate.

Why use such big words when a diminutive one would do?

[xNOVAx]

most likely a satellite cav.. there are hundres if not thousands of objects in orbit that can be spotted with the naked eye if the sun strikes it just right. Best times to look for them are just after sunset or just before sunrise..

[Holden McGroin]

NASA Satellite Page

8000+ manmade object objects orbit...
2500 are working and dead sats.

Communication and weather sats don't move against the night sky (geosynchronous) so if yours was moving you didn't see one of those.

Hubble, ISS, and spy sats move across from horizon to horizon in maybe 20 or 30 min. (90 minutes per orbit) probably inclines to the equator about 45 to 50 degrees... so unless you are in Calgary, it wouldn't be going directly west to east.

Spy sats have a greater north south inclination so that all the landmass can be photographed.

ISS is one of the brighter objects in the night sky and when the shuttle is docked, it about doubles in brightness.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Nash
Why use such big words when a diminutive one would do?

Sorry... I've been around radar engineering types far too long. How about "flicker"?

[DiabloTX]

Fine, go ahed, ignore the SETI intercepted signals.  Cav, have your tinfoil hat ready.

"That's no moon...it's a space station."

[cav58d]

thats pretty awesome!  I live in a very urban area of Connecticut, where I do get to see a lot of stars, but nothing like I saw this weekend up in the berkshire region of western Ma....It's really awe inspiring to see a sky like that, I look forward to my next trip from light polluted trumbulL!

[LePaul]

Does your butt hurt?

Coulda been the last thing you saw, then the martians used their probes on you and ...well, you know  

[TPIguy]

maybe you saw this?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/07/03/asteroid.encounter.ap/index.html

-----------------------------------------------------

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A huge asteroid whizzed by Earth early Monday, passing about 269,000 miles from the planet's surface -- slightly farther away than the moon.

More than three dozen asteroids have flown closer to Earth in the last few years, but scientists believe 2004 XP14 is among the largest.

The asteroid, discovered in 2004, is estimated to be as wide as a half-mile based on its brightness.

Late Sunday and early Monday, it was expected to be visible as a small moving dot to amateur sky watchers with good telescopes in North America and as a fainter object in Europe. Its closest approach was over the U.S. West Coast.

Scientists estimate 2004 XP14 will have 10 more close encounters with Earth over this century, none expected to pose a threat to the planet.

[Holden McGroin]

Originally posted by Holden McGroin
Communication and weather sats don't move against the night sky (geosynchronous) so if yours was moving you didn't see one of those.

Oops... stars appear to move due to the earth's rotation and geosynchrous sats don't move relative to the earth's rotation, so GS sats do move against the nite sky.  Just more slowly than the one you probably saw. They are 100 times farther away too, so way dimmer.

Also it appears Hubble has a much flatter to the equator orbit than the ISS.

Looks like Hubble's northward extreme may only reach the latitude of Florida.

[Debonair]

summer is teh best time for sat. viewing.
sun says close beneath the horizon a long time....

[xNOVAx]

Originally posted by Holden McGroin
Oops... stars appear to move due to the earth's rotation and geosynchrous sats don't move relative to the earth's rotation, so GS sats do move against the nite sky.  Just more slowly than the one you probably saw. They are 100 times farther away too, so way dimmer.

Also it appears Hubble has a much flatter to the equator orbit than the ISS.

Looks like Hubble's northward extreme may only reach the latitude of Florida.

On this note.. Geo sats can be visible under the right light contitions and look like a star for several minutes. As the sun falls further below the horizon and the light no longer hits the satellite, it will seemingly disappear. I haven't seen this, but I've heard you can see it if you know where the geo sats are positioned. Pretty cool.

[x0847Marine]

Originally posted by cav58d
Last night I saw two objects at extreme altitude, as bright as a star, move across the sky at tremendous speed...Im positive this was not a commercial aircraft, nor do I think it was a military fighter at FL500/600...Is there any chance  that what I say was a satellite or the ISS?  Is it possible to see its light with the naked eye?

Furthermore, about how many satellites are in orbit around the earth???

thanks

Satellites look just like that, as if they're screaming at breakneck speed past the other dots.

While playing in the 29 palms sand, with a great view of the sky, there was this one nutty Capt. who would stop everything (at night), then direct us to look up "now"... sure enough a satellite went screaming by. Dude was wierd, but watching those things just haulass across the sky was neat-o.