Posts: 778
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 07-10-2024 05:52 PM               

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Has any one here seen any of the Vanguard satellites and/or the two Vanguard rocket stages still in orbit?

I've tried a couple of times using Heaven's Above for data on when to watch, but couldn't see the target.

Posts: 1931
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

Posts: 494
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023

posted 07-11-2024 07:01 AM               

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Vanguard 1 is not visible to the naked eye from Earth's surface. (I have no idea about the other Vanguard satellites or rocket stages.)

I have a friend, however, who is a bit of a nerd - he describes himself as a train spotter of the sky. He takes photographs of satellite trails and tries to collect as many different ones as possible that fly overhead. He assures me he has more than one of Vanguard 1, although they all look the same to me!

He tells me you need a very dark sky, no light pollution, no moonlight, no aircraft flying overhead, no clouds, midwinter and cold being best to minimise heat turbulence, a good ephemeris or space log (such as Heavens Above), a very good SLR mounted on a very stable tripod, with a time release cable, and loaded with Kodak TMAX P32002 film, and all the luck in the world. He adds that pre-dawn about 5am in midwinter is his preferred hunting time.