M42 with unknown satellite !!!

Hi All,
I was taking a photograph of M42 and a satellite came across the field of view, this was by accident! , yet another M42 shot :lol:

www.irishastronomy.org/user_resources/fi...-IMG_0056_small1.jpg

This is an unprocessed 5 second exposure at iso 1600 (12"LX200 + canon 300D)
I ran starry night pro to find this satellite but nothing was in the area at the time. I could not see it with the naked eye.
Can anyone ID this satellite ??

Notice the "wobble", maybe it was rotating or maybe this is the tracking inaccuracy of the drive in the scope !, I dont have the PEC programmed yet.

Dave,
I would guess you could be right about the rotation of the satellite more than the off-tracking of the mount. Also, its like the satellite was brightenig as it came into view. I wonder is it possible if it could have been an Iridium Flare (though a faint one) - but this would only be the case if you were NOT looking at the sky at the time. That by the time you noticed it on camera (or in eyepiece) and then looked up, it was gone. Know what I mean?

And yes, it is another good excuse for you to post another really nice picture of Orion again! Is this your way of SHOWING OFF that you have a 12"?? Compensating for something perhaps??



Seanie.

A military/intelligence satellite perhaps. You know, the ones they don't want you to know about.........

Dave,
I would guess you could be right about the rotation of the satellite more than the off-tracking of the mount. Also, its like the satellite was brightenig as it came into view. I wonder is it possible if it could have been an Iridium Flare (though a faint one) - but this would only be the case if you were NOT looking at the sky at the time. That by the time you noticed it on camera (or in eyepiece) and then looked up, it was gone. Know what I mean?

And yes, it is another good excuse for you to post another really nice picture of Orion again! Is this your way of SHOWING OFF that you have a 12"?? Compensating for something perhaps??



Seanie.

yes, compensating :lol: :lol:
If it was an iridium then it was very fast and/or faint and starry night would show it or is it that accurate ?

This was the first night I used the GEG on the scope and I found that if I used the optional focal reducer at certain locations in the GEG (you have more then one point), then there was significant vignetting.
this is one of those images, without the focal reducer the image is better.

It might well be a military satellite.
I read somewhere (not sure if its true) that the US military have several HST sized survailance satellites up there ?!?
or was that out of the x-files :lol:

Dave,

Any possibility that you caught a meteor? Just that other satellite streaks I've seen from that area seem to be evenly lit, and the tumbling and gradual illumination would be consistent with a flyin' rock...

-- Denis S.

(Nice Trap by the way!)

Slatts,
I see where you're coming from, but since I dont have the RA drive trained, I cant be sure of the wobble ??
Cool if it was a wobbling rock
The the dimming towards to to could be vignetting due to the GEG and since it was the first and so far only night I got to use it, I need to experiment with it more to see for certain.

This is the first time I've ever seen vignetting in this scope, I put int down to the GEG f/r configuration.