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Astronomy
Eyes In The Sky
Offline Software
Online Software
Radio
Satellite Building
TVRO
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Satellite Watching
Our own stars in view...
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Observe
satellites with the naked eye ... Photograph
shuttles with your telescope ...
Glimpse the dramatic Iridium
flares ... Watch
the Space Station Construction
Several hundred spacecraft now orbit around our planet.
Many of those in low earth orbit (LEO) are bright enough
to be seen by the naked eye as they streak across the
night sky.
Some of the largest spacecraft, such as the shuttle
and the Mir space station, have even been imaged
by amateur telescopes with considerable detail.
A video made by Gary Eldridge from his
backyard with an amateur telescope
of a solar transit by the ISS and docked Shuttle. For
more details, see the posting here:
Capturing
solar transits of ISS and Shuttle from a back yard -
Space for All blog - Mar.13.08
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Articles
of Interest |
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See
the archive for previous articles
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News Sources |
- sci.astro.
satellite
- Ed's
ISS Transits Page
- Computing
sun & moon transits by the International Space
Station - Thomas Fly
- SatTrackCam
Leiden station (b)log
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Suggestions for Beginners |
The first and most essential step in observing spacecraft
is obviously to know when and where to look. There are
now many satellite tracking programs, both online
and offline, that can give
you the sky coordinates for a given object at a given
time and location.
The easiest way to get started perhaps is to
use the Heavens Above online
program to find the time and coordinates of satellites
that are passing over your location tonight.
Remember to bookmark the prediction page that
is returned after you submit your location information.
The bookmark holds your location so that the next time
that you click on this bookmark, you will get the satellite
visibility page already setup for you.
See also the information at Project
Starshine in which a mirror covered spherical satellite
was tracked by students: Beginner's
guide FAQ.
The Astronomical
Leagues satellite observing program is called the
Earth
Orbiting Satellite Observers Club (EOSOC) and teir
website offers resources for the satellite observing
enthusiast such as this tutorial.
As you get more involved in satellite observing, you
probably will want to use one of the offline
tracking programs, many of which are freeware. Many
of these provide star charting as well and thus can
lead you into general astronomy.
Twisst.nl
supports a Twitter
service that tweets you when the ISS is going to fly
over your location. Follow the Twisst
account to get the notices. It uses your Twitter
account profile information to determine your location.
Here's an overview of satellite observing:
- How
to Spot and Track Satellites - Universe Today - July.11.13
Thierry
Legault, astrophotographer extraordinaire, talks
with Nancy Atkinson of UniverseToday.com
about the art of observing and imaging spacecraft in
orbit:
- How
to Avoid Bad Astrophotography: Advice from Thierry
Legault - Universe Today - Mar.2.12
- Thierry
Legault: Astrophotography is an Adrenaline Rush'
- Universe Today - Mar.1.12
Here are interesting historical accounts of a nationwide
program in the US started in the 1950s to organize amateur
astronomers in the tracking of satellites:
- Operation Moonwatch:
- Operation
Moonwatch - Leaping Robot Blog/Patrick McCray
- Feb.6.13
- Keep
Watching the Skies: The Story of Operation Moonwatch
& the Dawn of the Space Age by Patrick
McCray, 2008.
- Citizen
Science, Old-School Style: The True Tale of Operation
Moonwatch - Universe Today- Mar.15.13
- Remembering
"Project Moonwatch" - SkyTel Beyond the Page/SkyandTelescope.com
- CN
FORUMS ARCHIVE Telescope Reviews: Moonwatch telescopes
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Satellite
Observation Information
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Run in your browser the Satellite
Tracking Tool provided to HobbySpace
by BINARY
SPACE .
The program allows you to track a large set of satellites
in low earth and geostationary orbits.
(Note: the program requires Microsoft
Silverlight, version 5 or higher, as well as the
latest version of your preferred browser. Currently
the program works on the Microsoft Windows platform
only.)
The program also presents satellites in a choice of
3-D views.
Use the program's interactive controls to obtain data
on satellites, to predict their orbits, and more.
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Heavens
Above
This user friendly site allows you to find out what spacecraft
will be passing over your location for a given period.
Enter your location and then for a given spacecraft, e.g.
the ISS, you can bookmark the prediction page to find
out the upcoming passes over your position.
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Visual
Satellite Observer
This web site is devoted to amateur observations of
satellites. Lots of info on everything related to seeing
spacecraft passing overhead.
- SeeSat-L
- the mailing list for visual satellite observers.
Many of the most advanced amateur observers participate
in this group.
- How
Amateur Sleuths Spot Satellites - SPACE.com - Feb.4.09
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EOSOC
- Earth Orbiting Satellite Observers Club
This group, sponsored by the Astronomical
League, is administered by the Colorado
Springs Astronomical Society. The club provides
lots of resources for the satellite watcher. such as
this Tutorial.
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Google Maps/Google EarthTools
The Google
Map system can be used by outsiders to develop interesting
utilities with it. Here are Google map based tools that
track satellites:
- Real
Time Satellite Tracking - www.n2yo.com
- Analytical
Graphics provides a database of 13,000 objects
in orbit for use with Google
Earth:
- SatelliteDatabase.kmz
- Analytical
Graphics, Inc. - Downloads: Satellite Database
- DogstarRadio.com
Sirius Radio Satellite and Repeater Map
- Dick's
Rocket Dungeon: Real-time satellite tracking in a
Google Maps mashup
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NASA
- Human
Space Flight (HSF) - Realtime Data
- NASA's
app for iPhone and iPod Touch - provides dates
and crossing times, including those for particular
US National Parks.
- ISS
Sightings - NASA JSC
- Science@NASA
Realtime
- J-Track
Applet
- J-Track
3D Applet
- J-Pass
Applet
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More
Sites
- Satellite
Tracker at SpaceWeather.com
provides a list for US and Canadian locations of upcoming
flyovers of spacecraft like the ISS and Bigelow Genesis
I and II.
- Global
Flybys is available for other locations around
the world.
- Space-Track
- US government site for access to space object
tracking data. Requires a free registration.
- CelesTrak:
Important Notice - periodic updates on the
efforts to deal with the new US restrictions on
orbital tracking data.
- Satellite
watchers worried about Air Force restrictions
- Spaceflight Now - Mar.2.05
- Satellite_database
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Union
Of Concerned Scientists Updates Free Database
- Space-for-All - Feb.2.09
- AMSAT
- Online Satellite Pass Predictions
- AMSAT
- Amateur Satellite Summary
- Gpredict
- a "Free, Real-Time Satellite Tracking and Orbit
Prediction Software" package
- Track
satellites with Gpredict - ghacks.net - Sept.16.10
- Browse
Gpredict Files on SourceForge.net
- SOCRATES
- Satellite Orbital Conjunction Reports Assessing
Threatening Encounters in Space at Celestrak
- Top
50 - List of Bright Satellites
- Brooke's
Astronomy - info & links
- Celestial
Observer - calsky.com - lots of info and resources
about satellites observation
- Muskegon
Astronomical Society
- Satellite
Tracking Houston
- Satellite Control
Center SatcoDX - satellite footprints
- Satellite
Observations - Sky and Telescope
- SatTrackCam
Leiden satellite tracking camera station
- SatTrackCam
Leiden station blog
- Sky
& Telescope - Satellite Observing
Information and links related to satellite observing
at Sky and Telescope,
a leading amateur astronomy magazine.
- Space
Data Association: "an international organisation
formed in 2009 dedicated to safe and responsible satellite
operations, including the prevention of collisions
in space and improving satellite communications."
- Star Hustler
Naked-eye astronomy and satellite viewing. Based on
the PBS series.
- Starshine
Student Satellite
These student
built satellites consist of a small globes covered
with mirrors (like a disco ball). The mirrors are
polished by students around the world. Students track
the satellites during the period they are in orbit
and record their observations online. Eventually the
orbit decays due to friction with the atmosphere.
The student data give information on the atmosphere
and the solar heating. This site provides nformation
on how to track the satellite:
- Ephemerides
- Astrosurf Magazine (in French)
- Amateur
Observers' Program - UMD
- Originally designed to support the NASA Discovery
mission Deep Impact, this site provides info on
how to track "asteroids Vesta and Ceres in
support of the NASA Discovery mission Dawn and
comet Hartley 2 in support of EPOXI"
- Willie
Koorts - Lots of Satellite
Observation resources
- The
numbers game - Space Review - Aug.13.09 -
Brian Weeden gives an extensive review of how orbital
objects are monitored, counted and tracked.
- Mobile devices:
- Satellite
tracking apps for iPhone, iPad, etc.
- Satellite AR by AGI
works on Android
devices. Shows satellites passing within the solid
angle of the screen as you hold it up to the sky:
- Ever
Wonder What Satellites Are Flying Above Your
Head? - The Launch Pad - Dec.9.10
- Satellite
Augmented Reality now in Android Market -
AGI Blogs - Nov.11.10
- Articles
- How
to Spot and Track Satellites - Universe Today
- July.11.13
- How
to Spot Satellites - SPACE.com - June.19.09
- How
Amateur Sleuths Spot Satellites - SPACE.com -
Feb.4.09
- GoogleSatTrack
- ATV/Jules Verne & International Space Station
- Mar.08
- Amateur
watchers invited to 'Rosetta Up Close' photo contest
- ESA - Feb.28.05
- Surfin':
Tracking Spacecraft Online By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
- ARRLWeb - Sept.17.04
- Satellite
Spotting: How to Find Iridium, Shuttle or the
ISS - Space.com - May.24.02
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Tracking
Bigelow Space Modules
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Bigelow
Aerospace launched its first inflatable space habitat
prototype module - called Genesis-1 - on July 12, 2006.
Several more modules will follow it to orbit in the
coming years. Here are some resources on tracking and
observing these modules.
Genesis-1 has been labeled object 29252 by the U.S.
Space Command. It has the nternational Designation Code
of 2006-029-A. The module follows a 345 x 349 mile (555
x 561 kilometer) orbit and is at a 64.5 degree inclination.
- Tracking
Genesis I + Tracking
Genesis II
- Real
Time Satellite Tracking - www.n2yo.com
- Bigelow
Module: Orbital Updates - LiveScience Blog - July.13.06
- Leonard David
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International
Space Station Observing
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Ed Morana imaged the ISS as it crossed in front of the
Moon.
Ed's ISS Transits Page
Tracking the space station's Moon shadow - New Scientist
- Feb.27.06 |
NASA: ISS Passes
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