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: Intelsat 10 was launched on May 15, 2001 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan using a Proton K rocket,
weighs 3.700 tons, features 24 C-band and another 24 Ku-band transponders and has a planned operational lifetime of fifteen years. Intelsat 10
is an American geosat and member of the largest satellite fleet in the world (International Telecommunications Satellite Organization with 52
satellites) and provides a footprint which covers the Middle East, South Africa, Asia and Europe with broadcast transmissions related to DTH
(direct-to-home) video channels.
Note: The first image below represents a single one-minute exposure whereas the second image below is the sum of
the fifteen one-minute exposures captured and which reveals some very slight motion for the four Astra satellites during the approximate 20-minute
span and which quite often is characteristic of geosats (ex. due to inclination).
NORAD ID: 26766 Common Name(s): Intelsat 10, PanAmSat 10 Int Code: 2001-019A Location: 68.5° East Perigee: 35,807.8 km Apogee: 35,832.2 km Inclination: 0.1° Period: 1,437.4 min Launch Dates: May 15, 2001 Origin: Luxenbourg |
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Date: Nov 03, 2012 00:08 - 00:27 UT+2 Location: Athens, Greece Equipment: AP 305/f3.8 Riccardi-Honders AP 1200GTO GEM SBIG ST-10XME SBIG CFW10 SBIG LRGB filters Integrations:
Image Scale: 1.21" per pixel Temperatures:
Software: CCDSoft V5.00.201 CCDStack V1.6.0.5 Photoshop CS5 |