Roughly 500 geostationary satellites are currently placed in a static orbit (as viewed by a ground-based observer) about our planet at an
altitude ranging from 500 to 40,000 kilometers. The closest satellites orbitting the planet are believed to be spy satellites whereas most
distant are the geostationary group of satellites with an instrinsic magnitude of 11 or greater. As a result, due to their distance and faint
magnitude, geosats may be classified as the DSO's of the satellite world. At their high altitude not only can they virtually view the complete
globe below them but they also have the unique characteristic of having their orbital speed closely match the rotational speed of the earth
and, as such, give the impression to a ground-based observer of being stationary above the planet. These satellites have a wide range of
applications and functions and include remote sensing (Meteosat, GOES-East and GOES-West, GMS etc) and such telecommunication functions as
direct broadcast voice and video communications as well as live television coverage (Astra, Hot Bird, Telstar etc) by virtue of the fact they
can beam their signal from a "fixed" point in space relative to a ground source.
Note: Arabsat 2B was launched from Kourou, French Guiana using an Ariane 44L rocket on November 13, 1996 and its
purpose is radio and television transmissions. It weighs 2.60 tons and broadcasts across the Middle East using 17 Ku-band and 32 C-band
transponders.
NORAD ID: 24652 Common Name(s): Arabsat 2 Int Code: 1996-063A Location: 30.5° East Perigee: 35,777.6 km Apogee: 35,809.7 km Inclination: 0.1° Period: 1,436.1 min Launch Date: Nov 13, 1996 Origin: Arab Satellite Communications Organization |
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Date: Mar 2, 2010 22:40 - 23:13 UT+2 Location: Athens, Greece Equipment: AP 160 f/7.5 StarFire EDF AP 1200GTO GEM SBIG ST-10XME SBIG CFW10 Baader IR Pass Integrations:
Image Scale: 1.17" per pixel Temperatures:
Software: CCDSoft V5.00.188 CCDStack V1.6.0.5 Photoshop CS2 |