I have been wondering why I can determine my latitude using simple
tools but not my longitude? The earth is a sphere, I would think if
you can determine one you can determine both.
The problem with calculating longitude seems to be the earth is
rotating on its' axis. If the earth stopped
In general, you cannot see geostationary satellites with the naked
eye. See http://www.satobs.org/geosats.html for details. To be
visible to the naked eye, an object's apparent magnitude must be about
6 or greater (smaller values are brighter). Most satellites have
magnitudes around 12 or
Brent,
Yes, I think you *could* determine your longitude by observing a
geosynchronous satellite whose location was known. There would be some
uncertainty if it wanders a little. Much more important, however, is
figuring out which geosynchronous satellite you are looking at. You'd
So with the link provided by Richard Langley I can see geostationary
satellites with a telescope:
http://www.satobs.org/geosats.html
I think if I did that I could determine my latitude by measuring the
angle of the satellite from the horizon on my north/south meridian.
But now I can also
This webpage says you can see see them if the conditions are right:
28. Geostationary satellites form a belt around the celestial equator.
Observing these objects can be fun during the equinoxes when active solar
arrays tend to be favorably oriented causing the normally 12-14th magnitude
objects
Hi Brent:
There are satellites every 2 degrees, how are you going to tell them apart?
For more see:
* Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest
Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel - book
* Longitude - DVD movie based on the book
It turns out that a much
Hi Brent,
The following links shows a photo taken of five geostationary satellites
(using 5 hour exposure). I would have thought that there would be more than
five satellites all in a line, why only five?
http://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr01/images/sat_sky_close_lg.jpg
re: Roderick Wall
That's what I was hoping for.
Okay if I can find those 5 for example, I could choose one of them.
Maybe the one on the right and keep using that one for reference.
Or, maybe choose the brightest, ASC2 and use that as the reference.
I guess it will only work for half of the
Hi Roderick:
That's an interesting photo. It shows that the Earth's motion causes
the stars to drift and so they are of no use in identifying which sat
you're seeing.
DBS 2 is at 100.77 deg W
DBS 3 is at 100.87 deg W
DirectTV 1R is at 101.26 W
The reason you don't see a string is that this
High Brent,
It's interesting to use satellites with a telescope to determine your
longitude and maybe latitude. I suppose If you are going to use satellites
then it maybe easier to use the GPS satellites to determine your
latitude/longitude. GPS navigation receivers are cheap (AUD$99.00 in
Hi Brooke,
A close up of one slot, but the photo is wide enough to show more than five
satellites. Or am I missing something here.
Roderick Wall.
-Original Message-
From: Brooke Clarke
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 9:29 AM
Cc: Sundial List
Subject: Re: stop the earth
Hi
The idea of personal prime meridians is entertaining but it probably
isn't very practical.
For example, if I discovered some nice island, how could I tell others
where it was. My directions would be worthless to them, unless they
started from where I did.
It reminds me of personal time
Hi,
Others have explained the problems regarding seeing/identifying/using
geostationary satellites to determine longitude but if you are prepared to
consider alternatives, there is one that simply uses radio and a clock.
Construct a device to work out local noon, like a north–south line.
That's an interesting suggestion about the satellite dish.
I have a tv dish now, which is aimed at a geostationary satellite.
I think if I go measure its' inclination from the north/south horizon
and its' inclination from the east/west horizon I can determine my
location. It is easy to figure
Don't forget parallax. The geostationary satellites are not at an infinite
distance. The angles you measure to see them must be corrected for the
specific location. I once wrote a program for a TI 59 programmable
calculator to do this. It was published in their PPX program exchange. It
was
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