Satellite Flare Photobombs a Lunar Eclipse Under the Milky Way (Photo)

Space.com ^ | Sept 23, 2018 | Miguel Claro, Space.com Contributor

[ETL]

Miguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory photo ambassador, a member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical skyscapes that connect Earth and the night sky. Join him here as he takes us through his photograph "An Eclipsed Moon with Mars, Milky Way with Saturn, and a Satellite near Jupiter."

Captured 15 minutes after the end of totality during the longest total lunar eclipse of the century, this scene shows the red glow of a partially eclipsed moon very close to Mars.

With the galactic core of the Milky Way, you can see Saturn above the constellation Sagittarius. Near the Milky Way's colorful, dusty arc, a flare from the Chinese Earth-observing satellite Formosat-2 (also known as Rocsat-2) passes overhead.

Not far from this satellite flare is the planet Jupiter, which glows brightly near the right edge of this wide-angle view. This single shot was captured from the town of Campinho in Portugal's Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve. 

[ETL]

I’ve got a PVS-14 night vision monocular No magnification, but some evening I’ll lay in my lawn chair (we live in the country so not much light pollution) and scan the sky. You see all sorts of satellites and meteorites you’d never see otherwise.

I envy you. It is my dream to live in the country. Was lucky enough to live one year in central New York State in a tiny hamlet. A nearby farmer had his cows right across the road from us. However, marriage fell part, she moved back to NYC, and I couldn't take the loneliness. But that was a long time ago. I doubt I'll have any such problems today.

[ETL]

Great graphic by the way. Didn't really look at it until now.

[SunkenCiv]

Not really, I can't view the APoD site from this machine, so after my year's exile from FR, I couldn't resume it. ETL would seem like the ideal FReeper to resume it, and I'll be happy to help with the modest tools and the old list.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks ETL.

[Rebelbase]

Good illustration of why satellites are only visible for a couple of hours after sunset.

[ETL]

...and before sunrise.

[minnesota_bound]

In clear skies you might see some alien spacecraft entering Earth’s atmosphere.

Milkyway Timelapse Compilation - 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7mlhv80A_k

How the Universe is Way Bigger Than You Think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy7NzjCmUf0

[ETL]

Hope this will do, at least for now.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

[ETL]

Here is a link to the APOD archives...

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

[Conan the Librarian]

I use the Sat track app myself. Does just what I need.

Over the years of observing them, what I have found was that the brighter the flare, the shorter the period.

In other words, if it is a -8 flare, you will see just a short glimps of the satellite. If it`s only a -1, you can pick it up juch sooner and follow it longer.

They are interesting to watch, but, sometimes interfere with deep sky observing