Monday, November 25, 2013

Geosynchronous Orbit

twinkle, twinkle in the sky
22000 miles from my eye
pretty lights of red and green
from my front door can be seen
on a night so cold and clear
satellite, why are you here?
so your xm won’t fade away
as you listen all the day

and night.

Through the eye of the point-and-shoot camera.

 Blowup shows colors of the lights.

How difficult is it to hold the camera still at 26x?
I need a tripod.  And a more sophisticated camera.

This geosynchronous satellite is visible from our front door whenever the night sky is clear.  To the naked eye its position varies very little from night to night.  I believe this particular object is situated at 85.0 degrees west longitude. For a scientific explanation of this, you will need to look elsewhere.

7 comments:

Vee said...

Incredible photos! I'm thinking maybe you should have had a career as a photographer.

Secondary Roads said...

Nicely done. I haven't looked for any geosynchronous satellites--I'll have to add that to my "to do" list. I've enjoyed watching the low orbiters, which are easy to spot as they are closing and they move against the background of stars.

vanilla said...

Vee, I have fun with a camera, but I probably lack both the patience and the eye to be a photographer.

Chuck, night-sky fun. You probably can see the one I pictured here just to the east of you as it is for me. To the west and a bit farther (i.e., lower in the sky) you might spot one, though I've not found it from here.

kc bob said...

Nice pics! I have a few tripods that I have not used in many years. These days I mainly use my phone to take pics.

vanilla said...

KC Bob, thanks. I am a troglodyte: I have a cell phone, but no pix, no text, no 'net.

Shelly said...

What great pics! I need to pay closer attention to the sky.

vanilla said...

Shelly, thank you! I think there are gs satellites at 97.0 and at 99.0. You might be able to see the one to the east of your location and the other to the west. Look up!