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Skies Alive: Planets, Meteors, and Satellites in Motion · Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder

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  Howdy stargazers and welcome to this episode of Star Trails.
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  I'm Drew and I'll be your guide to the night sky for the week starting November the 17th
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  to the 23rd.
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  This week the night sky will offer some of the usual celestial sights, including prominent
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  planets and deep sky objects.
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  Here in the show we'll talk about how to spot and maybe even listen to the unnatural objects
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  that float around Earth, space stations and satellites.
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  So grab a comfortable spot under the night sky and let's get started.
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  We just experienced the full beaver moon, which was the last of four straight super moons
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  this year.
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  The moon will begin waning this week, but it's still plenty bright, making observation of
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  faint objects difficult.
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  By November 20th the moon will be in a waning gibbous phase.
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  Jupiter will be a standout all night long this week, rising in the eastern sky and reaching
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  its peak around 1 a.m.
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  On November 17th Jupiter will be near the almost full moon, making for an eye-catching
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  conjunction.
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  Look for the Pleiades star cluster nearby.
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  Mars rises late in the evening and is visible before dawn in the eastern sky.
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  By November the 20th Mars will be in close proximity to the waning gibbous moon, appearing
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  about two fingers width away at arm's length.
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  Saturn remains positioned in Aquarius, visible in the southeastern sky during the evening
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  and gradually setting before dawn.
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  This steady yellowish glow is easy to spot and a small telescope will help reveal its
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  iconic rings.
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  Uranus reaches opposition on November 17th, meaning it's directly opposite the sun from
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  our perspective, making it brighter than usual.
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  Even so, Uranus is a dim object and you'll need at least a good pair of binoculars to
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  see it.
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  Look for it in Taurus.
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  The Leonid meteor shower peaks on the night of November 17th into the early hours of November
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  18th.
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  This shower typically produces about 15 meteors per hour under ideal conditions.
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  However, this week's moon may wash out all but the brightest meteors this year.
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  The Pleiades and Hyades star clusters in Taurus are easily visible this month.
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  The Pleiades cluster, known as the Seven Sisters, is a beautiful cluster of blue stars, while
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  the V-shaped Hyades cluster includes the bright star Aldebaran.
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  Both clusters can be seen with the naked eye, but binoculars will enhance the view.
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  Orion and its famed Orion nebula will also be well positioned.
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  Right below Orion's belt, the nebula appears as a fuzzy patch visible to the naked eye,
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  but it truly shines when viewed with binoculars or a telescope.
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  While most of our episodes are about the natural wonders of the cosmos, let's not forget that
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  there are thousands of man-made objects orbiting Earth, including communication satellites,
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  space stations, space telescopes, and even portions of spacecraft.
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  Spotting these objects can be a unique challenge.
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  In fact, I know an astronomer who has photographed the James Webb Space Telescope from his home
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  observatory.
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  For the rest of us, we can enjoy plenty of celestial bird watching with the unaided eye
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  or with a simple pair of binoculars.
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  Satellite spotting is one of my favorite ways to enjoy the night sky, and even though these
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  objects aren't light years away, there's still something fascinating about catching
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  one gliding overhead.
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  Nowadays, with nearly 6,500 star-linked satellites in orbit, it will be a rare night of stargazing
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  when you don't see a man-made object overhead.
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  We'll focus on some of the bigger stars of the satellite world, the International Space
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  Station and China's Tianjiang Space Station.
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  We'll also get into how to locate other satellites zooming across the night sky.
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  But first, what are we actually seeing when we spot a satellite?
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  After all, they're pretty far away.
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  The answer is simply sunlight, reflecting off the solar panels or other shiny surfaces.
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  That means you'll have a better chance of seeing satellites right after dusk or before
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  dawn, when the sky is dark but sunlight is still able to highlight them as they cruise
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  overhead.
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  If you've never seen it, you owe it to yourself to check out the International Space Station,
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  which is really easy to spot.
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  The ISS is a massive science lab, about the size of a football field, that orbits Earth
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  at about 17,500 miles per hour.
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  At this speed, it orbits Earth every 90 minutes, meaning it could pass over your location multiple
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  times in a single evening.
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  The ISS is special not just because of its size, but also because of its brightness.
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  It's one of the brightest objects in the night sky, sometimes even brighter than Venus.
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  Just a quick aside, I was inspired to create this episode because a few nights ago I was
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  observing Venus when the ISS drifted by, and passed right below the first quarter moon.
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  I've seen the ISS many times through the years, and it really never fails to inspire.
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  When it's overhead, you'll see it moving steadily from one horizon to the other, almost
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  like a slow, silent airplane without any blinking lights.
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  Eventually, you'll see it fade out as it passes into shadow.
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  Its brightness is caused by sunlight reflecting off of its giant solar panels.
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  It's also worth checking out the ISS' cousin in orbit.
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  Tian Gong, which means heavenly palace, is China's own space station, and a significant
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  part of their ambitious space program.
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  While it's not quite as big as the ISS, it's still easily visible and follows a similar
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  orbit.
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  So, just like the ISS, it's best viewed around dusk or dawn.
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  The Tian Gong space station may appear a bit dimmer than the ISS, but it's still a very
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  bright object.
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  In fact, it's easy to mistake it for the ISS.
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  Finding the location of the ISS or Tian Gong on any given night is quite easy.
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  For the ISS, you can use NASA's Spot the Station service.
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  Just sign up, enter your location, and you'll get alerts for when it's passing overhead.
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  There are also a number of smartphone apps that will send you an alert when the station
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  is overhead.
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  Just search for them on your device's app store.
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  The best way to locate Tian Gong is by using a service such as heavensabove.com to predict
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  its passes, although various apps like Stellarium can also do it.
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  A desktop application you might find useful is the open source program Gpredict, which
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  tracks a massive database of satellites.
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  I used to keep Gpredict open frequently when I was doing a lot of ham radio with satellites,
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  more on that in a moment.
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  When it's time to view a station or satellite, make note of its predicted direction of travel
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  and degrees above the horizon.
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  For example, heavensabove will chart the objects from when and where they appear on the horizon,
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  then their highest point in degrees above the horizon and where the pass ends.
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  As always, make sure you have a clear view of the sky, ideally with as little light pollution
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  as possible, and be ready a few minutes before it's supposed to appear.
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  So keep in mind, even in light polluted areas, the space stations will be easily visible.
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  It's always a thrill watching these stations glide smoothly and quickly across the night,
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  especially when you realize there are people on board doing science and research right
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  at that moment.
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  There are literally thousands of other satellites you can see on any given night, so if you're
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  out stargazing and see something dim gliding across the sky in a straight line, it's probably
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  a satellite.
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  Some of the most popular sightings recently have been SpaceX's Starlink satellites, which
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  sometimes appear in trains, a series of lights moving one right after the other.
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  From my location near the city, I don't see these with my naked eye, but glancing at nearly
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  any patch of night sky with binoculars for a minute or two will eventually reveal a Starlink
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  satellite or two or three.
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  They are literally everywhere in the night sky right now.
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  Another type to watch for are iridium satellites, which create flares, sudden bursts of brightness
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  as sunlight hits their solar panels at just the right angle.
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  These can be incredibly bright and sudden.
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  The first time I saw an iridium flare, I thought I was watching a very bright meteor
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  slowly burning up.
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  You can check heavens above to see when one might be spotted in your area.
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  Some satellites orbit close to the equator, so if you live near the poles, your view might
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  be limited.
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  But with the ISS and Tiangong, their orbits cover quite a bit of Earth, so most of us have
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  a good chance of seeing them.
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  If just spotting the ISS isn't enough for you, maybe you can try to talk to astronauts
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  on board.
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  The ISS has a ham radio station as part of its educational program called ARIS, which
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  stands for Amateur Radio on the International Space Station.
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  Through this setup, astronauts sometimes host scheduled events where they chat with schools
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  and ham radio operators here on Earth.
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  Back in 2011, I went down to Florida to watch the final launch of the space shuttle.
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  While I was roaming around the Kennedy Space Center, I noticed a gentleman with a large
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  antenna and a radio transceiver.
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  Turns out he was an amateur radio operator monitoring radio traffic on the Cape in advance
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  of the launch, and that piqued my interest.
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  A week later, I found myself down the ham radio rabbit hole, eventually learning about
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  the ARIS program.
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  Before the month's end, I'd studied for and obtained my technician class license, with
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  the goal of one day talking to an astronaut on the International Space Station.
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  In the coming months, I'd upgrade to general and finally the extra class license, although
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  you only need a technician class license to experiment with ham radio via the ISS.
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  Even with a small 5W handheld radio, I was able to listen in on ISS communications.
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  One evening, I heard Suni Williams, then the station commander, chatting with her family
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  hundreds of miles north of my location.
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  I've decoded slow-scan TV signals transmitted by Russian cosmonauts from the ISS, and I
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  even sent data packets up to the station's digital repeater, which were then retransmitted
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  across the eastern seaboard and picked up by other ground stations.
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  It's kind of special seeing your amateur call sign originating from NA1SS, that's the station's
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  official call sign.
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  It's even more fun if you're watching the station fly over at the same time.
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  Additionally, there are dedicated amateur radio satellites, and you can exchange contacts
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  with other hams via these objects.
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  It's tricky, but I've used these for both voice and Morse code communications in the
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  past.
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  So, while it's not astronomy, amateur radio offers some astro-adjacent fun.
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  Space operations are just a small facet of the ham radio hobby, but I know many astronomers
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  who also hold an amateur radio license.
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  Even if you don't have a license, you can still use a police scanner or other VHF receiver
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  to listen in on the ISS downlink, that's their transmitting frequency.
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  Tune to 145.800 MHz and see if you can hear anything when the station flies overhead.
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  You might be surprised.
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  And if you'd like to go the extra mile, you can even try photographing the ISS, Tian Gong,
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  or other satellites.
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  Use a tripod, set your exposure time for a few seconds, and aim your camera where the
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  satellite will appear.
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  You'll get a little streak across your photo as a memory of the station's pass.
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  If you want to go deeper into the world of ham radio and ISS, I'll leave a link to the
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  ARIS programs web page in the show notes, along with links to Heaven's Above and other
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  resources for tracking satellites.
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  That's it for today's episode of Star Trails.
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  If you found this episode useful, please share it with a friend.
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  The easiest way to do that is by visiting our website, startrails.show, where you can
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  find all of our episodes including transcripts, night sky maps, and more.
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  Until next time, keep looking up and exploring the night sky.
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  Air skies, everyone.