Free way to find the arc using sun, moon, stars and planets

[Conky]

Stellarium is a powerful cross platform astronomy program. You can also use it as a site survey tool by comparing the locations of the sun, moon, stars and planets to calculated satellite positions. Now you don't have to wait for spring/fall solar blackoutsIt helps (but isn't necessary) if you live in an area with low light pollution and have a basic knowledge of the constellations

1. Install stellarium. (it is freeware)
2. set it up to your nearest city or latitude & longitude by going to the left hand menu and clicking on the location window (or press f6)
3. go to the left hand menu and select the wrench/configuration tool(or press F2)
4. Under the plug-ins tab select "Satellites" and then check off load at startup at the bottom
5. Find the file "satellites.json" file on your computer and replace it with the one found here http://astro.uni-altai.ru/~aw/stellarium/satellites.json (right click and save as). it will be found in something like C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Stellarium\modules\Satellites in Windows Vista & 7. This one is the most up-to-date and also contains the geo-synchronous satellites we want
6. Re-start stellarium, go to the plugins tab, select "Satellites" , then click configure to bring up the Satellites Configuration window
7. Click the satellites tab then select geostationary from the drop down menu
8. Press CTRL, then click and drag on the satellites on the arc you want to see to highlight them, then fill in the "Visible" checkbox
9. Press the X's on the configuration windows and you should now have a model of the arc at your location

you can look around the sky by right clicking and moving the mouse. You can also Fast Forward in time by clicking the double right arrow from the bottom menu bar(underneath the time) Itsamazing to see all the non geo-synchronous satellites zooming around the sky. If your lucky (sooner or later) the moon or a bright star or planet will come closeto eclipsing your desired satellite. Plus using a bright star or planet is much more precise and easier on your eyes than the sun.

 

[cyberham]

This is useful information. I have a date with the Sun and Moon on March 1st to 6th and recorded in my BlackBerry since they are closely following the arc on those dates.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Conky,

I am going to have to check this out next time I have a free day to play. Sounds interesting, so "THANKS"!

RADAR

 

[Magic Static]

I'm using a sun outage calculator to show me where some birds off the horizon are. I have a date around the 1st of march to check sat positions near the horizon. I'm at 114.01° West and want to see if I can dial up 45°W from here. There is a mountain in the way I think, but it will be close.

 

[Conky]

right now Rigel (Orion's right 'foot') and Saturn come within 2 degrees (below the arc) for Halifax

 

[Jim S.]

From mid-northern latitudes, the Orion Nebula is close enough to the arc that satellites can show up in pictures of it. I just got one a few nights ago, I think it was Dish's bird at 77.

 

[polgyver]

Hello, Conky,
Looks like it is very interesting program. I am very unskilled with computers, especially with my 2 years old MacBookPro, but somehow I managed to download this Stellarium program. I had hard time to replace Paris with Toronto, as I tried to use the window second from the bottom (finally I discovered that the top left link worked). So far, I was able to watch some communication satellites, like ISS (ZARYA), IDEFIX & ARIANE 42 P R/B, SERT 2, and COSMOS 1220 (today at 10.40 PM). Some were going in the opposite directions.Of course, I know not much about astronomy, but I was able to point to Polaris. Thanks for this link !