September 26, 2007: Geostationary satellites

glatt · 09-27-2007, 04:53 PM

Undertoad, I didn't mention this before, but this IotD is a great one. Good job!

It has slowly grown on me over the last couple days. I was mulling over the possibility of taking a similar image myself. I wonder what sort of equipment you need? The link says it was taken at Kitt Peak, but not which instrument was used. I wonder if it was one of the big telescopes there, or just a camera on a tripod with a long exposure? The satellites are +10 to +14 magnitude in brightness, but I don't know exactly what that means in camera exposure speak. Eight hours is a long exposure.

Looking at the link again, it says the view spans about 10% of the arc. That's roughly like a 50mm lens. You should be able to reproduce this shot in your back yard with a 35 mm camera on a tripod! (assuming a clear night.)

Cool.

dar512 · 09-27-2007, 04:55 PM

Wouldn't you get too much light pollution there in Arlington?

glatt · 09-27-2007, 04:58 PM

Yeah, way too much here. I can see the planets and the moon though.

But you know, when you travel to someplace nice and have a clear night, you can do this.

09-27-2007, 04:55 PM	#2
dar512 dar512 is now Pete Zicato Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago suburb Posts: 4,968	Wouldn't you get too much light pollution there in Arlington? __________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

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09-27-2007, 04:53 PM	#1
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Undertoad, I didn't mention this before, but this IotD is a great one. Good job! It has slowly grown on me over the last couple days. I was mulling over the possibility of taking a similar image myself. I wonder what sort of equipment you need? The link says it was taken at Kitt Peak, but not which instrument was used. I wonder if it was one of the big telescopes there, or just a camera on a tripod with a long exposure? The satellites are +10 to +14 magnitude in brightness, but I don't know exactly what that means in camera exposure speak. Eight hours is a long exposure. Looking at the link again, it says the view spans about 10% of the arc. That's roughly like a 50mm lens. You should be able to reproduce this shot in your back yard with a 35 mm camera on a tripod! (assuming a clear night.) Cool.

09-27-2007, 04:58 PM	#3
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Yeah, way too much here. I can see the planets and the moon though. But you know, when you travel to someplace nice and have a clear night, you can do this.

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