Colour of satellites neer the moon?

Im just wondering what colour do satellites turn when they go infront of the moon from our point of view? when i have a answer i will write the reason im asking.

reply to post by LvSLoLo


Depends on what you're looking at it with.

Naked eye it would disappear in the brightness of the moon.

With a good enough telescope it will appear dark, like this:

reply to post by LvSLoLo


There are too many variables to give an answer to your question. Its not an either or thing. Its apparent color depends on a multitude of variables such as:

Angles of the Sun to the satellite.
Color of its panel array.
Time of day/night
Its distance from Earth.
Particulates in the air.
Moisture levels in the air.
Etc.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Yes that is the reason im asking i once witnessed a satellite go past the moon with a telescope and it was black, Last night i was in my garden looking at the moon without a telescope and something passed by the moon that i thought would be a satellite but instead of going dark it got really bright untill it passed the moon ive never seen anything like it. At first i thought it was a satellite or a airplane but i was outside for atleast another 30mins and there was nothing in the sky appart from 1 really loud low flying propeller engined plane.

reply to post by LvSLoLo


Well my only other thought is an iridium flare getting real bright just as it transits the moon.

Other than that I have no idea!

Wasn't a meteor?

Im not sure on that to be honest ive seen quite a few and they all have the trail behind them but this didnt have one it just got brighter as it went past the moon it was very strange

Im from doncaster england i know there are people from my town here on ATS and im hoping some of them witnessed it aswell.

I saw the space station flare up once. We were watching it overhead and all of th sudden it flashed really bright white . My mother laughed and said that they were taking pictures of us.

Here is an example. The one we seen lasted a little longer than this though.

www.youtube.com...

Originally posted by liejunkie01
I saw the space station flare up once. We were watching it overhead and all of th sudden it flashed really bright white . My mother laughed and said that they were taking pictures of us.

Here is an example. The one we seen lasted a little longer than this though.

www.youtube.com...

edit on 11-3-2012 by liejunkie01 because: here

Hmm im not sure on that, the thing i was watching seemed circular but from a distance that could just be a satellite but then again it could be a ufo or something else ive never heared about all i know is this thing looked like a pin prick of light going towards the moon then as it got closer it got brighter and flared up quite alot this is why i asked if it could be a satellite becouse ifnot wlf is it?

reply to post by LvSLoLo


Maybe you are one of the only one's to spot the x-37b.

I do not have any idea what you saw.

good luck

what is the x-37b?

Sounds like flaring of a sattelite as it reflected the sunlight. It porbably flared for the same reason the moon is so bright now. It is opposite from the sun. I have seen the spacestation flare before. It is cool looking. There are many different sattelite that could have done it. I have seen this happen myself when studying the moon. I suspect the sattelites have to be in perfect position in order to get this affect.

Here is a link to a sattelite tracker. spaceweather.com...

Colour is a subjective thing. We all see coulours differently, so it's not a good idea to use it to make any judgements based on it solely.

Have a look at this clip, and in particular the demonstration using coulored sqares.

Originally posted by LvSLoLo
Im not sure on that to be honest ive seen quite a few and they all have the trail behind them but this didn't have one it just got brighter as it went past the moon it was very strange

Not all meteors have tails. Slower meteors in particular are less likely to have tails. Meteors that graze the atmosphere (rather than plunging down into it at a high angle of entry) may not have tails, since the tail is mostly made from air molecules, and there is not much air at higher altitudes. Lower down there is more air, so much more chance of a tail.

How long was the light visible for? Can you estimate how fast it was moving? In terms of "moon diameters per second" would be very useful, otherwise in comparison to a high altitude commercial airliner would suffice.

Also, did you notice any changes in brightness?