Artificial Satellites and How to Observe Them

195 Pages·2012·3.41 MB·English

by  Richard Schmude

Astronomers’ Observing Guides

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Richard Schmude, Jr.
Artifi cial Satellites
and How to
Observe Them
Richard Schmude, Jr.
109 Tyus Street
Barnesville, GA, USA
ISSN 1611-7360
ISBN 978-1-4614-3914-1 ISBN 978-1-4614-3915-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-3915-8
Springer NewYork Heidelberg Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012939432
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012
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This book is dedicated to the many people who have helped me along the way:
fi rst, to my father and mother, Richard and Winifred Schmude, who showed me
the stars and answered all my questions; to the many fi ne teachers, professors,
and school administrators who guided me during my childhood and early
adulthood; to the members of the Astronomical League, the Association of Lunar
and Planetary Observers, and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada who
supported and encouraged me; to the librarians at Gordon College who helped
me obtain critical information for this book; and, fi nally, to the webmasters who
prepared and maintain the websites listed in the book.
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Preface
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I became interested in astronomy initially when I saw what appeared to
be a countless number of stars from my parent’s home in Cabin John,
Maryland. I was no older than six when I had this life-changing view of
the night sky. I purchased my fi rst telescope at age 15 and shared it with
my siblings and a neighbor girl, Kathy. This was my fir st experience
with public outreach.
One of my early views of an arti fi cial satellite was of the International
Space Station in about the year 2000. I remember watching it grow
brighter and reaching a peak brightness directly overhead.
This book is divided into two parts. The fi rst part (Chaps. 1 , 2 , 3 )
summarizes our current knowledge of arti fi cial satellites. I have cho-
sen to focus on satellites designed to collect scientifi c data of the Earth
(Chap. 3 ) and of other bodies (Chap. 2 ). In the second part (Chaps. 4 ,
5 , 6 ), I describe how to observe, image, and study satellites. The last
chapter describes how to compute the eclipse times of geostationary
satellites.
Various websites are listed in this book, some of which may be
updated or discontinued by the time this book is published. Changes in
website addresses are bound to happen. What I have seen, though, is
that a discontinued website is often replaced by something even better.
vii
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About the Author
Dr. Richard Schmude, Jr., was born in Washington, D. C., and attended
public schools in Cabin John, Maryland; Los Angeles, California; and
Houston, Texas. He started his college career at North Harris County
College and graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Chemistry. Later, he obtained a Master of Science degree
r
in Chemistry, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics, and a Ph.D. in o
h
Physical Chemistry, all from Texas A&M University. He worked at t
u
NALCO Chemical Company as a graduate co-op student and at Los A
Alamos National Laboratory as a graduate research assistant.
e
Since 1994, Richard has taught astronomy, chemistry, and other h
science courses at Gordon College, Barnesville, Georgia. He is a tenured t
t
professor at this college and continues to teach his students (and oth- u
o
ers) in these areas. He has published over 100 scienti fi c papers in many
b
different journals and has given over 500 talks and conducted telescope A
viewing sessions and workshops for over 25,000 people.
ix