Contains:  Solar system body or event
Molniya satellite at 2500mm focal length, Bruce Van Deventer

Molniya satellite at 2500mm focal length

Molniya satellite at 2500mm focal length, Bruce Van Deventer

Molniya satellite at 2500mm focal length

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

Molniya satellite 13-3 imaged from my Lynnwood driveway on Xmas day 2019. The satellite is the dot between the two red marker bars. It was about 10.3 magnitude and was imaged using a Canon 6D DSLR on a 10" f/10 Meade SCT, mounted on the Xerxes Scientific Direct drive mount. This is a 15 second exposure; these satellites are quite distant in the northern hemisphere but are not geostationary. They travel on very elliptical loops such that they get good coverage near the northern polar regions and hence are observable all night. In this case the satellite is moving only about 20 arc seconds per second. It was blind acquired (no satellite finder).

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Molniya satellite at 2500mm focal length, Bruce Van Deventer