The night my telescope caught a satellite flare and I got the shot anyway

Last Tuesday I drove out to the dark sky spot near Lake Arrowhead with my old 8 inch dob. Setup was a mess, the finder scope was way off and I forgot my collimation cap at home. I almost packed it in but decided to just wing it with a star test. While I was fiddling with the focus knob, this Iridium satellite crossed right through my frame and flared so bright it washed out the whole eyepiece view for a second. I laughed it off, figured my night was ruined, but then I tried a long exposure anyway. That flare ended up creating this cool streak across the nebula image I was shooting, and honestly it made the photo way more interesting than the plain target would have been. Has anyone else had an accident like that turn into their favorite picture?

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1 Comment

angelac6328d ago

Wait, an Iridium flare timed PERFECTLY with your nebula exposure? That's like winning the cosmic lottery by accident. I've had planes and satellites ruin shots, but nothing that turned into something gallery-worthy. The streak across the nebula sounds almost deliberate, like the satellite knew it was photobombing and made it look cool on purpose. You gotta share that image somewhere, seriously.