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Satellite spotting can be a fun early evening or morning diversion or hobby. Earth is now orbited by more than 6,000 objects, some larger than a greyhound bus. The following links will help you know where and when to look to see some spectacular man made celestial events.
The German Space Operations Centre (GSOC), which is part of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), maintains a set of dynamic Web pages which generate visibility predictions for visible satellites and Iridium flares for ANY location on the Earth. The predictions are generated dynamically each time a page is requested, so you can obtain the very latest predictions, using the most recently available orbit data, and customised for your own location and time zone.The satellite location calculator on this web page will need to know your exact location. You can either select the closest city or enter your longitude and latitude. Please note: if you are off by more than just a few miles the calculations will be wrong and you will not see the predicted objects.
NASA created J-Track so you could quickly and easily keep track of your favorite orbiting objects. J-Track lets you choose from a fairly large list of satellites. This site will let you watch the progress of the Shuttle, the International Space Station, and by Clicking Here you can hear the communications to and from the Shuttle, assuming you have Real-Audio installed on your computer.
If you've ever spent some time star gazing shortly after sunset you've probably noticed one or two 'stars' gracefully sailing across the sky. These are orbiting satellites of various types and ages, visible due to the reflection of the Sun's light off their surfaces towards the observer.Whether a satellite is visible to a given observer or not is dependent upon several factors; knowing these details may aid an observer in determining the most favourable times for sightings, and is most certainly necessary in order to spot some of the more elusive targets which speed across the heavens.
The reflections are characterized as peaking at magnitude -6, lasting for about 10 seconds in a dark sky, and satellite movement of some 5 degrees. One needs binoculars to see the satellites ordinarily as they are magnitude 6 to 7. These flashes occur during daytime as well and provide a means whereby you can say you have been able to see a satellite during the daytime with the naked eye. At least two people have already observed such flashes.
This site has been customized to list only those flares visible from my computer laboratory near Corning, California. Do not use this link, unless you are located within one or two miles of my lab at: West Longitude 122.07.53 North Latitude 39.55.02To get your own customized web page click on the DLR "Satellite Predictions" link at the top of this page.
