this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2024
50 points (98.1% liked)

Astrophotography

1783 readers
1 users here now

Welcome to !astrophotography!

We are Lemmy's dedicated astrophotography community!

If you want to see or post pictures of space taken by amateurs using amateur level equipment, this is the place for you!

If you want to learn more about taking astro photos, check out our wiki or our discord!

Please read the rules before you post! It is your responsibility to be aware of current rules. Failure to be aware of current rules may result in your post being removed without warning at moderator discretion.

Rules




If your post is removed, try reposting with a different title. Don't hesitate to message the mods if you still have questions!


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
50
M31 (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

~~We got a lucky shot of Andromeda with a meteor crossing our view.~~ Apparently we shot a satellite flare next to Andromeda.

Images:

  • Samyang 135mm @2.8
  • Fuji X-T5
  • Star Adventurer 2i
  • 465 x 30s
  • ISO 200

Processing:

  • stacking, stretching, background extraction and star separation in Siril
  • final composition in Photoshop
top 6 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Honestly kinda looks more like a satellite flare with how symmetric it is.

btw, was any processing done to this?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Ha, thanks for letting me know. I didn’t know satellites can create flares like this. As all the other satellites were so dim I assumed it had to be something different.

For editing I chose the single sub with the flare and screen blended it in photoshop.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The satellites are normally dim, but sometimes the sun will hit them at just the right angle and reflect perfectly to you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3AFlare_Simulation.gif

The old Iridium sats were cool because they could get to -9 magnitude for a few seconds if you were in just the right spot. You can also have some satellites that flare every few seconds if they're tumbling and keep hitting the sun at the right angle throughout the pass.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Very interesting, thank you for sharing. Your linked gif makes it very apparent that it was indeed a satellite.

I also searched in Stellarium and found a decommissioned military satellite called STSS Demo 2 that fits the path and time stamp perfectly.

-9 magnitude is insane, must’ve been a very cool sight.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Gorgeous! Feeling of motion, like the meteor would zip out of frame if you look away.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago