I was up at F Peak during our recent amazing record-setting great-condition
Saturday night, when it was my pleasure to greet once again, after long
absence, the fine gentlemen (TACos who my spouse would be impressed to know):
Dillon, Kingsley, Natcher, Crisp, Crilly, and Samuels, among many others. I am
grateful to Armstrong for hauling and setting up his 20" Obsession so Hawley
and I could use it to chase down many objects meeting the description: "Not M,
but still candy".
Then there was the celebrated comet. I mean comet(s). The best new object.
In a recent posting, our renowned Richard Crisp wrote that it was good to see
Dan "Mr Geosynchronous" Wright before the sun set ...
Is this my new nickname? Bring it on!
I observe geosynchronous satellites -- yes I do.
Here's why they're great:
You won't find them on any star chart
They are just the size of a car, 22300 miles away
There are hundreds of them hovering over our California longitudes (even
more at other longitudes)
They do not have an RA/DEC! They have only an ALT/AZ that changes depending
on your topocentric location, and when regarded geocentrically, they are known
by their longitude (and inclination).
I bet you couldn't find one if I asked you to.
They're challenging because they usually appear about 11 mag, varying
between 9 and 15 mag (or less).
There's a difference between the geosynchronous ones and the geostationary
ones.
In a way reminiscent of variable stars, they change and wink out, depending
how the sun reflects on their irregular man-made surfaces
Some keep their stations using thrusters, while others are out of service,
tumbling and flashing like blipping beacons
At times of year such as equinoxes (when they are at opposition), they flare
to naked eye brightness, even mag 2. Then people wonder what the hell is
appearing before their eyes (new supernova?)
I'm at the point I can set up my scope, click an icon on my screen, and GOTO
any one of them at will. I specialize at showing clusters of them in the same
eyepiece.
Most importantly for visual observers: they show Motion in the Eyepiece!
Motion! Our hunter-gatherer-evolved eyes are pretty good at low-light hunting
(including abilities such as averted vision), also our eyes are GREAT at
detecting motion -- a skill astro visual observers almost never use! By my
experience, when friends observe these satellites flying gracefully through a
star field, their reaction is usually (and I quote):
THAT'S COOL!
Our very own Jamie, on his recent first look at them (three in the same field),
reported a sense of disorientation from his usual observing experience, then
also, even, a sense of vertigo in response to the motion.
OK I'm not eccentric -- I won't devote my life to them. It's just a current
project.
This was a great opening to the observing season, and I hope to see as many of
you gentlemen as possible -- at Shingletown, at Calstar, and at many dark sky
sites this year.
Posted on sf-bay-tac May 03, 2006 02:05:51 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.4 May 04, 2006 21:33:33 PT