tater Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 Why is it oriented like that? To slow down and burn up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 Spoiler The night sky after getting both Skylink and OneWeb started. (Epilepsy warning!) Spoiler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 FCC filing for SpaceX to start using sats from various gateway locations. https://fcc.report/IBFS/SES-STA-INTR2020-00778 Map of locations: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1H1x8jZs8vfjy60TvKgpbYs_grargieVw&ll=39.450104209580914%2C-100.05755104072995&z=4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightside Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 1 hour ago, tater said: FCC filing for SpaceX to start using sats from various gateway locations. https://fcc.report/IBFS/SES-STA-INTR2020-00778 Map of locations: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1H1x8jZs8vfjy60TvKgpbYs_grargieVw&ll=39.450104209580914%2C-100.05755104072995&z=4 Interesting. Do the circles on the map represent the area of the sky that they can communicate with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinimumSky5 Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 The circles are a representation of satellite visibility to the ground stations, yes. I doubt that it's that good though, some of those base stations are nestled between mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCgothic Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 So these are the uplink sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Wow, so they are dumping the upper shells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCgothic Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I saw several Starlinks go overhead last night in the UK. They were of pretty varying brightness and never saw two at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 I've got a Starlink-5 pass coming up tomorrow that looks like it's going to go very close to the Moon. Maybe it's even worth driving my telescope a mile or so to photograph them crossing. First I have to see what they look like tonight if the clouds open up enough... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 (edited) Well it was definitely very visible. I counted 38 sats all in a line, very bright. I'll definitely be watching tomorrow for their lunar close pass! wow! Edited April 26, 2020 by cubinator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegarrison Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 (edited) I mean, yeah, I suppose it's cool to see a line of very bright satellites in the sky, but isn't this visibility the reason why so many astronomers are worried that they will disrupt astronomical photography? Edited April 26, 2020 by mikegarrison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 6 hours ago, mikegarrison said: I mean, yeah, I suppose it's cool to see a line of very bright satellites in the sky, but isn't this visibility the reason why so many astronomers are worried that they will disrupt astronomical photography? The satellites are only this visible and closely packed shortly after launch. When they get into position, they are very dark and only seem to produce flares like Iridium used to, except these flares are dimmer, last longer and repeat as multiple satellites pass through the right region. I've never seen more than two Starlink satellites at a time that were already in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 (edited) Saw it again tonight. https://www.heavens-above.com/StarLink.aspx?launchid=2020006&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT The prediction on heavens-above agrees with what I saw. The leading group is brighter and closely packed, there are two lone sats in between which are probably close to their operational positions, and the trailing group is dimmer and more spread out. The train goes almost all the way across the sky in a big line. I imagine some of the old folks who went out to watch Sputnik 1 are seeing this too, and considering how far we've come. Edited April 27, 2020 by cubinator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOXBLOX Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Saw Starlink a couple weeks ago; counted something just over 50. Cool at first, but very disruptive to astrophotography. I would much rather use a small number of large sats which are reliable enough to deorbit after their service life ends, but no, Mr. Musk must have his Starlink. Nevermind the other seven billion people on Earth who would like to see the stars properly... I guess Elon is a Kesslerizer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 17 hours ago, cubinator said: The satellites are only this visible and closely packed shortly after launch. When they get into position, they are very dark and only seem to produce flares like Iridium used to, except these flares are dimmer, last longer and repeat as multiple satellites pass through the right region. I've never seen more than two Starlink satellites at a time that were already in place. Also how the solar panels is oriented, during orbit raising they are pointed forward, in position they point up, guess they need to point forward during burn because of center of mass and to reduce drag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wjolcz Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, SOXBLOX said: I guess Elon is a Kesslerizer. I guess his main goal is to lock himself and all the others on this planet and never go anywhere. WTH are all those new forum accounts being against everything? Edited April 27, 2020 by Wjolcz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceception Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 11 hours ago, SOXBLOX said: I would much rather use a small number of large sats which are reliable enough to deorbit after their service life ends It's worth noting that even if these sats fail, they'll pick up drag and de-orbit within a few years with no outside interference needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCgothic Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Digital image processing will soon catch up. It's not difficult to identify and remove high-brightness artifacts with high angular velocity from frames. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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