Tigger
21st September 2024, 11:39
Everybody is familiar with observing a satellite moving across the sky, particularly at dusk and dawn. Often, a satellite will catch the sunlight due to its high orbital elevation and appear as a moving ‘star’ to the observer below.
Imagine my surprise when tonight I witnessed not one but approximately 12-15 objects, all travelling in a perfectly straight line. Similar trajectory to known satellites in the region and about the same velocity. Field notes are below. Unfortunately I did not have a camera at the time:
6:50pm Saturday 21-Sep-2024
Location: Yungaburra, QLD
17deg 16’ 08”S by 145deg 34’58”E
Observed trajectory approximately ENE
Trajectory is consistent with other observed satellites at this location
Description:
A long trail of 12-15 individual objects, not equidistant, but all travelling at the same velocity in a perfectly straight line. Spanning approximately 3 degrees of arc from head to tail of the formation.
Initial thought was this may have been a meteor that had broken up, however the velocity appeared to be consistent with a satellite, not the high velocity of a meteor shower. The objects were similarly sized, and did not change their relative luminosity.
The trajectory on the objects indicated that the altitude did not decline; observations suggested that these object were in orbit.
The objects remained in formation (i.e. the distance between each object was consistent and did not change) as they moved. The objects appeared to be a string of satellites - each object was characteristic of an individual satellite based upon luminosity and size of other observed satellites in the region.
The objects were observed to be initially bright in luminescence, decreasing as they moved toward the NE sky. This is consistent with other observed satellites - they eventually faded from view as they moved further into Earth’s shadow.
Can anyone shed some light on this one?
Imagine my surprise when tonight I witnessed not one but approximately 12-15 objects, all travelling in a perfectly straight line. Similar trajectory to known satellites in the region and about the same velocity. Field notes are below. Unfortunately I did not have a camera at the time:
6:50pm Saturday 21-Sep-2024
Location: Yungaburra, QLD
17deg 16’ 08”S by 145deg 34’58”E
Observed trajectory approximately ENE
Trajectory is consistent with other observed satellites at this location
Description:
A long trail of 12-15 individual objects, not equidistant, but all travelling at the same velocity in a perfectly straight line. Spanning approximately 3 degrees of arc from head to tail of the formation.
Initial thought was this may have been a meteor that had broken up, however the velocity appeared to be consistent with a satellite, not the high velocity of a meteor shower. The objects were similarly sized, and did not change their relative luminosity.
The trajectory on the objects indicated that the altitude did not decline; observations suggested that these object were in orbit.
The objects remained in formation (i.e. the distance between each object was consistent and did not change) as they moved. The objects appeared to be a string of satellites - each object was characteristic of an individual satellite based upon luminosity and size of other observed satellites in the region.
The objects were observed to be initially bright in luminescence, decreasing as they moved toward the NE sky. This is consistent with other observed satellites - they eventually faded from view as they moved further into Earth’s shadow.
Can anyone shed some light on this one?