U.A.P - 22nd April Manchester (Confirmed: ISS - thought was UFO)

Originally posted by Superiorraw
Thanks Chrlz

I was referring actually to my site:
projectskywatch.yolasite.com...

Thanks! I missed it..

I'll be honest with you, as I only think its fair

When is honesty not fair?

the bright light that I have captured didnt move like a conventional aircraft. I had witnessed it the night before on the wednesday, and at the back of the house it was stationary in the sky before setting off, a courier jet wouldnt do this?

Depends entirely on flight path. I live near two airports (aren't I lucky..), and when a plane is approaching and descending slowly, they simply 'hang' there for ages, and then may 'peel off' as they head elsewhere, or are directed by the flight controllers to circle around. You'll need to spend a lot of time watching, and maybe get the flight path info for any local airports to work it all out.

The most useful thing to do is to watch the object really thoroughly over the entire period - where it comes from and where it goes are usually the giveaways..

If it's 'intense' as you say and is an aircraft, that means landing lights so it is either coming or going from something nearby. Look carefully for the regular blinking nav lights. Sadly they may be washed out by the LL's, but if it gets near enough, you should be able to make them out. Maybe a chopper - had any late night crimes in your district lately?

its a shame the weather is so poor hear in Manchester

Yes, you need to change your camera *and* your location, I reckon.. Lovely and sunny/clear here, although rain coming next week..

Sorry

Guys if you are having trouble with codecs I would recommend vlc media player, it plays just about anything and it's completely free. I thought from my first viewing it could be the iss but if it wasn't due to fly over at the time of your sighting we can't rule out other satelites, I have observed many in the night sky and they don't have to be the iss to be bright. Just a thought folks.

October

reply to post by October


That is what i am leaning to. I was wondering if there is any other way to confirm or identify what I have filmed is a passing satellite or station of some kind, because if there is an alternative schedule for it I might be able to match it to my sighting?

Another question I'd like to also ask, and its regarding the footage. At the beginning some point the object appears to change colour? red/green. Is this object changing colour or is light reflecting off it or is it the videocamera when I zoom in?

Just a few things I've considered recently, I do plan to take some other footage of passing aircraft to compare it to the footage I have here.

Originally posted by Superiorraw
I was wondering if there is any other way to confirm or identify what I have filmed is a passing satellite or station of some kind, because if there is an alternative schedule for it I might be able to match it to my sighting?

Havta be honest and say I don't know for sure, but if you have the 'Heaven's Above' data, from:
www.heavens-above.com...
you have THE data. It is recognised as the authoritative place to go for such stuff - I don't think anyone has ever questioned H-A's data and accuracy.. I've used them quite a few times for ISS and shuttle watching, and a couple of Iridium flares. Apart from one screw up with daylight-saving time (my error!), they were always spot on. Having said that, I haven't personally chased up historical data. NASA will have archives of all ISS/Shuttle orbital data, but again, I haven't tried chasing this down. NASA are pretty helpful (if a bit slow to respond) to email enquiries, as long as you ask sensible questions ..

Another question I'd like to also ask, and its regarding the footage. At the beginning some point the object appears to change colour? red/green. Is this object changing colour or is light reflecting off it or is it the videocamera when I zoom in?

I didn't look at the bit you refer to - how about some frame grabs, if you want something specific looked at..?

But it could be either. If a bright object is reasonably distant, and the air between you and it is turbulent, dusty, misty, polluted (and of course it often is), then you can get all sorts of colour variations. The lower to the horizon and more distant, the worse. Check out Sirius when it is low to the horizon and you'll see what I mean - you won't believe the colours!

That's because the air is acting like hundreds of little variable prisms and refracting the light. The brighter and fuller the light spectrum (that's why Sirius is so good at it!), the more colours you will see.

But there are ALSO all sorts of effects that can cause colour impurities in your camera system:
- chromatic aberrations - all lenses have these, and they result in reddish/bluish/purplish/greenish edges and contamination, especially around/in high-contrast areas. Zoom lenses at telephoto, are particularly prone to it, sadly.
- 'purple- (or sometimes green) fringing' - an effect caused by incident light hitting a sensor at an oblique angle. This is often confused with C-A and it can be hard to tell which is which. (As a side note, the Sony DSC-F828 camera suffered badly from this and/or CA, yet it was fitted with a *superb* Carl Zeiss lens! - so good glass doesn't necessarily mean you won't see defects..)
- sensor blooming - light spills from the design of the electronics & microlenses over CCD and CMOS sensors. Again, it gets tangled up with the above problems.
- lens/sensor design issues - some lenses/sensors do have colour casts that may reveal themselves in difficult lighting, or when struck by UV or IR (look up the 'Leica M8' debacle)
- white balance issues - if the camera is left on 'auto' white balance, it will make up its own mind on the colours - that's a bad thing! Even when using presets there can be inaccuracies, but when filming something of unknown colour the camera should be set to DAYLIGHT white balance if possible.

Hope that helps, and doesn't scare you too much...

No mate not scary at all.

I just want to be sure that while investigating and looking into this sighting, that I have given enough thought, time and consideration to the many variables and not dismiss something without reasonable explanation.

Its just a must that I do that, the colours I was referring to can be seen on the video. from 0:01 to 0:20 there are 2 colours both red and green that show from the orb/light. What I really struggled with during this capture was my own composure, i struggled to keep the camera in focus on a distant moving object. I guess practice makes perfect.

I'm leaning at the moment towards some kind of satellite, based on what yeasby posted up earlier on, It isn't the ISS as the time/schedule doesn't match. From what people have said the Schedule is accurate and if those times are true it doesn't match my sighting time/date.

I'll recheck the site and information. I'll also be posting up some footage soon of passing aircraft at a similar height/distance once i've got the videocamera set up if anything for my own comparisons.

Massive props to Greeneyedleo who, way back on 10-5 said that it was the ISS. I actually rechecked heavens-above. and i've managed to identify where i've gone wrong in my own investigation.

When it was first offered to me (the schedule) I check the times/dates that matched my sighting, they didnt collate properly and i was mystified as to why that was the case and how Greeneyedleo had come to this conclusion.

Here is what has happened. When I clicked on the initial summary, I failed to spot that the co-ordinates registered for the observation location were unspecified this for some reason brought back different times.

I rechecked the time and dates. and configured the site over to my own viewing location co-ordinates and surely enough after hitting the >prev< button on the site back to April 22nd/23rd I found a time/date config that matches up with my sighting, coupled this with the heading/direction and Yeesby's video being pretty much a good rendition of what I saw, I am now satisfied that what I have filmed is the International Space Station.

I'm assuming the colour changes I see is probably somehting to do with the light/angle and the kind of videocamera I have or maybe a combination of other factors.

I'd like to thank everyone who helped me identify this particular sighting properly and more-over thank forum moderator Greeneyedleo for the help in providing me with the accurate site link to research it.

I've sent you a PM regarding this as well.
In friendship
Richard

EDIT; Just wondering if a Moderator could possibly retitle this now as it i am well satisifed that its a mis-identification. Having matched the dates/times with the ISS and having collaborative footage.

I'm also going to update the skywatch website and my Youtube channel with a new report to confirm and summarise the identification of it.

[edit on 29-6-2010 by Superiorraw]

reply to post by Superiorraw


Hiya Superiorraw,

Looks like you've reached an ID point of your sighting being the ISS. I wanted to give you a couple more tips to help with that.

When you use heavens-above, it will also give you an overhead map, as well as an aerial view of where the ISS (and other satellites) will originate from from your point-of-view. The large circle on this map indicates basically your horizon and where the satellite will first come into view, and where it will blink out. The light you see is reflection from the sun, and that is what pretty much locked in for me that your video WAS of the ISS, in that it winked out of view -- that is crossing the plane, from you view -- where the satellite is reflective.

As you know from our communications, I'm an avid ISS watcher. I also scan the skies with NV at least weekly. When you film objects -- especially those that cross directly overhead -- the act of rolling your camera/camcorder over as it passes overhead gives the impression of the object making a directional change. I find it useful sometimes to put my camera on a tripod and turn it on its side, so that when the object I'm filming passes overhead, I can avoid that rolling motion. I hope that made sense

I really appreciate your efforts, and moreover, the scientific approach you are taking with your skywatching. That approach lends credibility, IMO, to any future events you might film that are unexplainable by conventionally-known satellites. Good job!

I vote that Supe gets a coveted "ATS Investigator" badge.

What, there isn't one? C'mon, how about it, mods..!!??

Like Argentus, I am hugely impressed by your approach, your willingness to get off your butt and do the hard work, your eagerness to learn and listen, your desire to find the truth rather than jump to conclusions, and your efforts to properly document your stuff.


If ONLY there were more skywatchers like you... I look forward to your equipment upgrades..!

Thanks to Argentus and Chrlz. I've now put everything in a Summary and it can be seen on the Skywatch Project Website. I was going to edit my other post from the other day but the edit buttons disappeared. So i'll just go ahead and round everything up here.

U.A.P - 22nd April Manchester (Confirmed: ISS - thought was UFO)

I am writing this summary as a result of my Investigation into my sighting on April 22nd/23rd. I did film a passing orb across my area of sky/observation point.
After plenty of speculation and scrutiny it has now been confirmed as a mis-identification on my part. However without the aid of GreeneyedLeo
(GEL)
from ATS and a selection of other participants I wouldn't of been able to get a full confirmation of what this was. Not only have I been able to put a pin-tack on what this object was but I myself have felt better prepared and educated for the preparation of future skywatches and observations.

The first assessment came when ATS forum member Yeesby

offered his observation video of a flyover clear sky by the I.S.S seen here:
ISS Flyover

GEL offered the following website: Heavens-Above
From this particular site I couldnt at first figure out or work out how the sighting I had matched up to the ISS. This is because in an oversight on my part I neglected to complete the form to instruct the database of my observers location/co-ordinates.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and when I eventually worked out the problem (or the penny clicked) whichever you prefer, I matched up the time table and date to the sighting I had. So. Here is a screen print of the date and time, I've highlighted the part you should take note of.



Also in submission of further evidence I include another screen print with the trajectory or pass of the ISS over google earth from my own observers location.



I'd like to close by saying again a big thank you to GEL, Yeesby and everyone else who chimed in and helped me get the correct result on this sighting.
In friendship
Richard

[edit on 1-7-2010 by Superiorraw]

[edit on 1-7-2010 by Superiorraw]