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Old 20th Jul 2004, 23:13
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Vee One...Rotate

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Geostationary orbit is around 22,500 miles high and you're right, any satellites there would appear motionless in the sky. Despite there distance and lack of motion, you can still see geostationary satellites in this orbit...on a clear night and with good eyes...problem is you wouldn't be able to differentiate them from a faint star. As a general rule, the satellites in the crowded geostationary orbit tend to be a bit beefier than there low-Earth orbit counterparts which means they generally tend to be more reflective.

Satellites mostly orbit W-E with varying inclinations as it's more efficent this way (the Earth's W-E spin gives a free boost) but satellites can and do orbit in every conceivable direction, depending on their task.

I've seen satellites on a clear night on a number of occasions - quite impressive against the starry background and with no sound at all.

V1R
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