Just realized a lot of people don't know how to spot a satellite in their star trail shots

I keep seeing photos labeled as 'meteor' or 'plane' that are clearly satellite trails. A satellite line is a steady, unbroken white dash, while a meteor is a colored streak that often fades. Planes usually have a dotted line from blinking lights. It matters because calling it wrong changes the story of the image. I learned this after taking over 200 long exposures from my backyard in Boise. Has anyone else had to correct friends on this, or am I just being picky?

3 comments

3 Comments

cole_bailey853mo ago

You're right about the steady line, but I've seen plenty of satellites that flicker or pulse as they tumble.

rowan_wells6727d ago

Funny you mention that, because that whole tumbling vs. steady thing has been a good reminder for me lately. It's like how people get thrown off by a car with a bad headlight flickering on the highway, thinking it's a motorcycle or something weird, but it's just a loose wire. Or those blinking red lights on top of radio towers at night that look like they're moving if you stare too long. It's about training your eye to see the pattern past the little glitches, you know? Same with clouds that look like they're swaying but are really just moving in a straight line across the sky. Once you catch that steady, predictable drift, the flicker just becomes background noise.

wren_smith443mo ago

My first year shooting in Flagstaff, I must have labeled a dozen tumbling satellites as weird meteors. The key for me was tracking their speed. A tumbling sat still moves at that steady orbital pace, while a real shooting star is just blazing fast.