Autumn is here, and it's a wonderful time for stargazing. Find out what's up from Spaceweather PHONE.
NEW SUNSPOT: A new sunspot is emerging over the sun's eastern limb--images: #1, #2. Last week, while the 'spot was on the sun's farside, it unleashed some ferocious explosions. Will it do so again? Stay tuned.
NOT A LEONID: On Nov. 19th, the night of the Leonid meteor shower, Jim Fakatselis of Huntington, NY, pointed his telescope at the Orion Nebula (M42). Suddenly, a bright light moved through the field of view:
An 18-minute movie of the Orion Nebula: full size.
"The object's path leads to the constellation Leo," says Fakatselis. But was it a Leonid? "It couldn't be. It was too slow." Each streak in the image, above, represents two minutes of motion. A Leonid would've been in and out in milliseconds.
Answer: The intruder was a geosynchronous satellite.
Geosynchronous satellites orbit twenty-two thousand miles above Earth's surface, always keeping station above a single point on the ground. They move very slowly among the stars, making them easy to distinguish from zipping meteors.
The Orion Nebula is a sort of "superhighway" for these satellites. The declination of the nebula is -5.5 degrees, about the same as the declination of a typical geosynchronous satellite seen from mid-Northern latitudes. Astrophotographers taking aim at the nebula often notice satellites drifting by. Examples: #1, #2, #3
Fun trick: When you spot a geosynchronous satellite gliding through the eyepiece of your telescope, disengage the telescope's clock drive. This will stop the satellite dead in its tracks, while the stars will suddenly begin to move. Think about it....
MEANWHILE IN ENGLAND: "I spent most of the night of Nov. 19th enthralled, watching the build up to the Leonids maximum," says Will Gater of Devon, UK. "Yet when I turned around and saw Orion rising, I couldn't resist turning my 8-inch telescope (an LX200R) toward M42." During a break between geosynchronous satellites, he took this spectacular picture:
"A nice momento to a great night!" says Gater.
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