Photographing Geostationary Satellites

By Ginger Wentrcek

Several months ago I tried to capture an image of geostationary satellites. At that time, I aimed the camera south but aimed too high to capture anything. I got interested in the project again when Don Carona sent me an article to include in this newsletter. (Read Don's article here.) I reread Randy Light's astrophotography article about taking star trail photos, watched a Moose Peterson You Tube video for his intervalometer settings, and set up the tripod and camera on the back patio.

I decided to photograph in the area of an EchoStar communication satellite, which turned out to be a satellite rich area. Using a cellphone app, the lens was pointed to 204° azimuth. An inclinometer was used to point the lens at an elevation angle of 49°, the camera was set to “bulb,” and an intervalometer was used to keep the shutter open for 4 minutes. Several images were taken, and if successful, stars would be recorded as star trails and geostationary satellites would look like very small dots with no trailing lines.

I was excited to see “small dots” on the computer screen when the images were downloaded. As an added bonus, there was a purple reflection from the beautiful Orion Nebula in the background.

To double check my work, I asked Don to take a look at the images and he verified that the “dots” were clearly satellites and I was aiming in the correct area because the celestial equator runs through Orion's belt.

In one image, there was a faint vertical line, most likely a north-south satellite trail, that started at the top of the image and ran to the bottom of the image. Other smaller satellite trails were also recorded.

Camera Settings

Manual Exposure Program
Center Weighted Average Metering Mode
Bulb Setting
ISO 100
Focus set to infinity (Fine tuned on a star)
Auto White Balance

Intervalometer Settings

Delay - 0 sec
Length - 4 min
Interval - 1 sec

Shooting Direction

206° Azimuth
Elevation 49°
One image - Pointed South at Random

The Equipment

Nikon D810 Camera
Really Right Stuff Tripod
Nikon 600mm Lens
Nikon MC-36 Intervalometer
Inclinometer
Cellphone