Mysterious Space Object Detected With DIY Radio Telescope
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- Recently I spotted a strange "UFO" with my homemade radio telescope / microwave imager. I've used this imager before to spot television satellites in geostationary orbit, but this unknown object was something new to me.
Spoiler Alert: I was able to determine that I'm probably seeing a geosynchronous (but not geostationary) satellite in an inclined / elliptical orbit. Specifically, I think this is the AMSC-1 telecom satellite, which is in a type of orbit designed to cover high latitudes like Northern Canada.
These types of satellites don't seem to show up too often on my telescope / imager setup, since they're not as common and aren't usually aimed directly at my location. This is the first time I've managed to spot one (if that's what I'm seeing), so it seems kind of rare to catch it with this particular equipment!
Folks might also ask if this "UFO" could be the sun or moon producing microwave signals, but those were both off to the left of the scan, not where the mystery signal showed up. It's also probably not a reflection / side lobe / "lens flare", I do get those, but they show up as rings around the main signals, and in fact this mystery signal has its own faint ring around it. Since my dish takes 3-4hrs to do a full scan, this also isn't something fast like a plane or low-orbit satellite as those don't show up on my imager (I'm essentially taking a very long time exposure).
I'm still planning to upgrade / rebuild this mini radiotelescope device in the future, hopefully with more flexibility to pick up different frequencies. That should let me see even more satellites (and maybe other space stuff!).
This website is a great resource for finding satellite orbits, and helped me figure out what I was most likely seeing: in-the-sky.org/satmap_planetarium.php
Some other online tools I use are:
www.n2yo.com/ (satellite orbits and predictions)
satbeams.com/ (satellite signals and stauts)
sky.rogue.space/ (3D visualization of different orbits)
space.skyrocke... (satellite general info)
www.dishpointe... (where to aim a satellite dish)
Specific info on AMSC-1: space.skyrocke...
www.satbeams.c...
www.n2yo.com/s...
Info on inclined / elliptical geosynchronous orbits:
en.wikipedia.o...
en.wikipedia.o...
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Even if you didn't find aliens, thanks for uploading. The process of finding the cause of that anomaly is very interesting in itself.
Not boring at all! I love the process you used for this. Sleuthing "weird things" is part of the satellite hobby. Some people would find it boring, but not satellite geeks. Well done, Gabe!
I love that you scientifically evaluated this phenomenon and despite the uninspiring results, made a video out of it explaining the process you used to evaluate and discover what this truly was. If more people did this the world would be a much more knowledgeable and well informed place. You are honestly one of my favorite UA-camrs I've found in 2023 and I hope you never change. Thank you for being who you are and keep doing what you are doing.
Glad you like it! I wasn't going to do a video on this originally, but it seemed potentially semi-interesting :-)
Uninspiring? I immediately thought of a Ku band sat in its figure-of-eight orbit, and to see and track such a thing outside the Clarke belt is terrific - tying it up to an on-line chart to identify it is terrific too.
@@paulsengupta971 I was referring to @saveitforparts not being inspired to upload the video, seeing he didn't get the results he wanted. Gotta think more than one way as far as definitions of words go. English can be hard sometimes.
@@ElDJReturn Ah, both ways though! I was letting @saveitforparts know that what he may have thought was uninspiring was actually very interesting for some of us! Maybe just for boring people like me, but still... 🙂
@@paulsengupta971 Ahhh! Well this has definitely been inspiring then! hahaha
Haha the fact that you thoroughly go through all the details down to what it actually is makes this well worth the clickbait. It wasn't boring at all!
They live. We need to make some microwave-to-optical sunglasses
how did you guys respong 6 days ago?
@@spacedive958 patreon bro
Wtf??
I'm watching the next one right now! You are missing out it's epic!
@@spacedive958 a lot of youtubers give early access to supporters. It's nothing new or shocking.
I want this guy on my side in the apocalypse.
Thank you. Tonight is my first view of the night sky without a 600watt yard light on one side of the property. Only light I'll be able to see still is a little from the church up the road. But I moved the yard light and have a switch ready to wire to it, so I can control when I have light at night. I'm very into stargazing it's been 10 years I've lived here with the old light every night. The new light location makes the light actually useful also.
"an interesting anomaly in one of my microwave satellite scans" had me hooked
"aliens" - how the best and also worst of videos start
fortunately, this is in the best category
Dear St. Paul, that weird elliptical object is the Sheriff’s repeating station on top of Ft. Snelling. It hasn’t worked for over 50 years when it was occupied by bottle cappers from the Schmidt Brewery.
Now this is a great example of how to reason with extraordinary claims.
As mentioned in another post "The oval shape makes sense for a slow moving target, since you are scanning line by line" I think you could take this idea a step further. By knowing how log it takes your system to record each scan line, and then by assuming that the mystery source actually produces a round shaped pattern (like all the geostationary sources appear to do), you should then be able to draw a best fit line connecting the midpoints in each of the oval's scan lines, and from the slope of that best fit line vs knowing your system's delay between scan lines, you should be able to estimate an angular velocity for that slow moving target.
It's always fascinating to be reminded that our planet is surrounded by a swarm of flying microwaves! 😄
In December I adopted a staffy x kelpie from the pound. She has little white spots in a whirl around each ear which made me think of listening to the stars. I googled famous female radio astronomers and found out about Ruby Payne-Scott who I'd never hard of before despite being Australian. Turns out she became a thorn in the Government's side after they forced her to resign when she got married but her team of WW2 RADAR researchers practically invented the idea of radio astronomy and she personally worked out the mathematics to make it all work. I've become a bit of a fan of hers and, of course I named my dog Ruby after her.
That's awesome!
Fun detective work, glad you took us along.
I love this! I didnt know about the daisy chain of satellites going overhead like that, kinda crazy to think the sky has a massive ring just made of non-visible lights
You're not alone. It's my job, so I deal with it every day, and I still think it's awesome. The idea that I can hit a truck from over 22,000 miles away with .1 degree accuracy is wild
the tip to people of "do your research" is well meant but you wouldn't believe what people percieve as "research"
Found this interesting to say the least. Not boring at all.
Nice explanation. Please make sure to continue your efforts, as I will continue to be your loyal subscriber and viewer!
Thank you so much for being you! It’s an inspiration, truly.
Here in Alaska I take approximately 3,000 digital photos (automated 20 second exposures) of our sky every clear night I guarantee there are things '"Up There" that NO one knows about. I've photographed some really strange stuff including synchronized clusters of satellites moving together which I'm told are CIA /NSA stuff. Love what you do and your videos are fantastic to stir the imagination. Keep producing...
You sure the clusters of satellites weren't Starlink? Btw, what do you do with so many photos? It annoys me dealing with 20-30 photos from my wildlife camera every night, I can't imagine having to process thousands every day.
It was before Starlink ever launched I've been doing this for over 15 years. @@ferrumignis
Yep, the "synchronised clusters" would be a group of Starlink satellites, shortly after launch.
there are some spy satellites that work together "in formation".
I'm glad I guessed correctly, get to keep my space geek license.
Please keep videos like this coming. I picked up an Allen-Bradley 1700p I'm going to put in a case with my az-alt mount for sat tracking. Parts parts parts.
It would be interesting to go to the far north of Canada or Alaska and do a scan from that location.
It probably be pretty boring, given how most of those satellites are blocked by low hills that far north. It be more interesting to go to Florida or Brazil.
I actually had that book when I was a kid! I ordered it from the sci-fi book club which was like a columbia house, lol.
Me too! Now I gotta go look.....
Did some digging and it looks like USA-134 was one of the DSCS series of satellites, specifically the 1st of the last 4 of the series. The last 4 of the series had a service life extension program setup applied that added 6 SHF band antennas above and beyond the existing X band ones. These may have included Ku band antennas. Based on the separation between the anomaly and the rest of the spots in the scan I think it is pretty likely. It would also likely have a more directional antenna so if it wasn't transmitting to something near you, you wouldn't see it until that one pass when it was. It also doesn't have much reason to be blaring signal all the time unlike a 24x7 TV sat.
I've never worked with DSCS, however I am a SATCOM tech. As far as I know, all military SHF satellites are either X or Ka band. Those extra transponders on the later block of DSCS satellites were to increase the bandwidth capabilities to 500 MHz, as early military SATCOM was quite limited. Also, looking at the FCC's frequency allocation table, the band used for satellite TV (12.2-12.7) is for non-government use, so no government satellites should be using it.
@@Geerice ahhh, I missed the non federal exclusivity, then yeah that probably doesn't work. Good info!
Honestly I have no clue what you are on about in any of these videos but being a tech guy it's so interesting/facinating. New sub :)
I really enjoyed this video and your logical but open mind, keep up the good work!!!
Kirk said Spock's best guess was better than any human's sure thing. I take this "best guess" a-n-y d-a-y!
Fun surprise for this video to end on a piece of space hardware I worked on oh-so-long ago while doing my EE degree, as a summer job at SPAR Aerospace. Thanks for jogging many fond memories of great mentors and designing worst-case-analysis models for msat-1 LOs in Matlab.
Cool!
Occam's razor: is more likely to be a satellite vs. green men.
This channel will hit its peak when the Explorers movie junk spaceship is completed... Mr. Saveitforparts goes to space to find aliens. That movie definitely inspired me as a kid to think about reusing junk.
Really underrated movie, I think I read the book adaptation first when I was a kid.
Thanking you most kindly from England UK
Good job solving that mystery, High five!
This is the fun stuff that I love doing. Find something weird or unexpected and figure out what it was - without jumping to conclusions.
Hi saveitforparts.
The most realistic solution is the test or travel orbit.
At the start of their life the satellites are tested outside the geostationary orbit but not too far to remain relatively fixed and far enough not to disturb the active satellites.
Satellite antennas have a curvature designed to cover a specific area, so you have to be close to its final position to illuminate the right area.
The test antennas are between 5 and 15 meters in diameter, the solar panels are not necessarily well oriented on this orbit.
It is normal that the satellite is therefore tested with less power.
the same if he is changing position on the belt, he is on the highway a little above the others who are on parking spaces.
Not boring at all! This was very interesting! You seem really knowledgeable on this stuff. Subbed!
Another good way to describe a Geostationary Orbit is to look up Tidal Locking, which is the phenomenon by which a body has the same rotational period as its orbital period around a partner. Great video! I’d love to try something like this.
someone asks, can you find aliens?..
you're like.. yeah. but uh 😂
The aliens gave him a used dish in exchange for making a video saying it wasn't them.
Great sleuthing! I really enjoyed this video.
Some of the GSO sats are placed in an orbit slightly beyond GSO altitude when they reach end of life or as a back-up. Because they are slighty higher they will slowly drift out of position. At some point they can be re-inserted into the GSO orbit to replace another sat.
Great video, interesting to see some of the tools that you use. That detector dish is fantastic. Even just getting it working is an awesome feat.
My first time here and I found it quite interesting. Cool stuff!
Good job on that ! It could also be an alien TV satellite ! :D
what a cool channel! hey, what do you use to get this great heatmap from your data? the resolution is incredible! Great work sir! Thanks
I wrote some clumsy code that scans the dish through an azimuth/elevation range and sends the signal data through Matplotlib to make a heatmap. The code is at github.com/saveitforparts/Tailgater-Microwave-Imaging for this antenna, and I have another repository for a 2nd model I tried.
Excellent! Thank you !@@saveitforparts
Your channel is perfect, like a prequel for a movie about a guy who does some experiments with obscure DIY sci-fi duct tape style of equipment and accidentally contacts aliens, ghosts and FBI hahahah
Such an awesome video and great explanations!!!
Love this video. Thank you for sharing this. As a big satellite nerd from back in the day, before the internet could solve all your problems, I’ve long been obsessed with stuff like this.
Clickbait all you can my friend. Get the $ but never change! Really enjoy your videos!!
One of the best and oldest programs for tracking artificial Earth satellites is Orbitron by Sebastian Stoff
The oval shape makes sense for a slow moving target, since you are scanning line by line
That would be consistent with a geosynchronous, but not geostationary satellite.
This is the man humanity will turn to when shit hits the fan
Very cool deduction!
Hi Ya & best wishes. Thanks for work. Be Happy. Sevastopol/Crimea.
Aliens are currently in fashion, it looks exciting. That was a very fascinating introduction to satellite technology and a very nice example of passive RADAR. A very well-made video.
dude....the amount of osint youput into this is insane! this is crazy nerd stuff, I love it!
Maybe you can catch it on purpose if you know when it will be in that part of the sky again. That would kind of confirm that that is what you found.
Or do another scan when it's below the Clarke belt in its orbit and see if it's where it's supposed to be on the scan.
When satellites are about to die, they fire thrusters to go into the "satellite junkyard". That could have been one that was going towards the junkyard, but not there yet. The junkyard is even further out than the main orbit of TV satellites.
Thankyou again for another great video.
Very intelligent and educational video, thank you
Congratulations on finding (and identifying) a *space oddity*.
Very interesting!
That really makes me want to go outside and scan the sky with sat-dishes! :D
I hope your request of humanity to think critically and logically reaches every corner of this planet and it becomes true.
I think visiting alien life is more likely.
Not disappointing at all. Absolutely fascinating! Love the research and love this channel. Thank You for posting.
That was really interesting! Nice investigative work!
The best thumbnail ever
He did hit the "Aliens." pose pretty bang on.
I was going to mess up my hair but didn't want a lawsuit 😅
Great detective work but…I want to believe!
That was a great investigation! I love this content.
Nah, fun Discovery Channel style video. Just as informative but without all the expert interviews.
Dude, it's more interesting than just "Ohhh, i don't know what it can be, LET ME SPECULATE". You actually done substential research and sorta pinned down a fucking satelite in geosynchronous orbit using redneck ducktaped cyberdeck. All i can say is, you are living a life that i always wanted to live as a kid i.e. being a mad scientist with his own underground lab... Mad respect
I like your content so much! keep it up! Hey! it's not boring if You're having fun!
Great video! Thanks 👍
3:50 the thing at the top has it's own lens flare, even
I think he is the most honest UA-camr..
Thatˋs the scientific approach: Donˋt try to find evidence to proof your theory! Try to disproof it! Same thing is true if you search things in the internet… Well done, love the stuff you do! Greetings from germany
We know you’re hiding dem aliems, just show them already hahaa!
That was a fun watch.
You ever think of making something like a tricorder?
You can get a full profile of electronic pieces of equipment while they are working.
Programming profiles for identification later.
The RF spectrum, the Heat, ultrasonic.
You'd be amazed what you hear an ultrasonic.
Rubbing your keys together with your fingers and be hurt at a much greater distance.
Works wonders for diagnosing bad bearings or Motors going out
Many years back the first TV remotes used ultrasonics with very basic encoding and many people found that jingling a bunch of keys would cause their TV to change channel.
I made a "Pi-corder" with a Raspberry pi. No ultrasonic, but it has infrared, air quality sensors, a cheap SDR, and some other sensors I haven't gotten around to installing yet.
The NSA must be aware of you. I hope that they've subscribed to your channel.
If I join the Space Force - will I be considered a "Space Cadet?"
It's the ghost of Major Tom...
would love to see if you could try to grab a signal off of that "UFO"
ET heating up their lunch in microwave oven😂😂
That was pretty neat !
Wow that's crazy you must never stop you work make you tube but still have time for all theses amazing hobbies and interests thank you for sharing your amazing mind and life
Great video...👍
really interesting clue hunt
Hey love your channel man. All your satellite stuff is fantastic. I'm new to ham and sdr stuff. Was curious if you have a social media I could ask you a few questions on?
My email should be on the "about" tab, that's usually the easiest way to contact me.
I love Jack McDevitt books! Saw it in the backround.
great video and ideas. How do you get the colored map of the satellites, What software program does that and then how do you overlay them on a seccnd photos. Thank you for your great work.
I wrote a Python program to run the dish and read signal strength, then I put that through a program called matplotlib in Linux to make the heat map (strongest signal is brightest color, etc). For overlaying on photos I use Gimp (open source Photoshop equivalent).
Thank you for your quick reply. your work is amazing. I have utilized satellite commo since 1975 off and on. 15 foot dish to a 9 foot on my RV. Nov into the smaller dishes and starting on radio astronomy. Is the program available. We used o use Raspberry Pi and python, now into mostly Arduino and IDE C++. Thank you. Keep up the good work.
Forgot to say to that we are using GIMP. also we are starting to use Celestron SE3 with Stellarium to find and tract satellites. Working on mounts and payload at present.
Could you calculate your position on the earth using the clark belt image? Since they're geostationary they're equitorial with circular orbits, and they encode a perspective on that circle. I figure the apparent eccentricity could be used to deduce the latitude(but not hemisphere, and the pattern might, in some places, clarify the hemisphere. I think for longitude, if you knew the image's orientation to one of the norths and gravitational up, you should be able to figure longitude based on where the satellite pattern appears in the sky? This would be completely useless, but fun; unless you're in a planecrash out in some wilderness with only an RV satellite dish, related gear, and a way to accurately calibrate/measure the global orientation of the dish.
I'm pleased you wrote this, I was thinking the same thing about the curvature vs latitude, it would be interesting to see what kind of resolution you could get from this.
Very interesting idea! I'm not sure how precise you could get with that, but I think you could get a good idea of latitude. You can also use astronomical observations of stars to determine latitude. I've heard a rough guess is to see how many fingers / fists above the horizon the North Star appears at it's highest. Each fist is about 10 degrees and each finger is about 1 degree (again, very rough and probably depends on fist size!)
This would be the Ku-band equivalent of a sextant, but easier as the satellites are stationary above the earth. There are calculators online for azimuth and elevation for pointing a dish to receive satellite TV on a particular satellite given your latitude and longitude, so it would be easy to work backwards. The bigger the dish, the smaller the beamwidth, so in theory the more accurate the results. You could take a reading from several satellites across the arc and get a range of readings.
You should try to get a än image transformation (maybe reverse convolution?) to remove tbe halos and get the "source image" that due to the side lobes comes out as that image with halos.
It will be specific to your dish and which band.
See if you can detect ANSC-1 again when it is below the geostationary arch from your perspective. If the blob appears where ASMC-1 should be again, then that will confirm it. If not, that might be even more interesting. Maybe USA-134 IS transmitting in the TV band.....
^^^^^ Yes, this. Keep scanning! See if you can track it while it does its figure of eight.
Thanks for sharing this, it was a wonderful journey through a fascinating niche hobby and a great lesson in critical thinking when faced with a mystery.
Look out, it's the thing from Uranus! Oh wait ... nevermind ... just saveitforparts Wednesday! Turned out better than expected!
4:47 hey Amatures have made consistant contributions to astronomy.
Saw you were chillin' with 999 likes so I hit the like.
i love the fact that that Wolverine quit doing movies to bring us bangin youtube aylmao content 😂🤣💪 chadly beard btw lol
I'm digging the content, as they say on the bands, 73
Earthlings! We keep sending the messages and you keep calling us satellites!