Blawgg

Several years back I had once observed what looked like a star moving quickly in a straight line across the zenith, on a clear night in Dehradun. That was an artificial satellite, which are frequently visible (with the naked eye too in clear environs) during dusk or dawn.

Satellite spotting is a regular hobby with many skygazers. And there are websites (surprise!) that generate satellite paths on sky charts for tracking. The first google link turned out to be at hobbyspace.com – a great list of such websites. And particularly useful is a German site called Heavens-above (this link takes you directly to the satellite predictions for New Delhi – may not work in Firefox 3.0).

Using their excellent charts, I was easily able to spot Cosmos 1674 and Cosmos 2263 (that passed just below Saturn today), using an ordinary 10x binocular. The satellites appear as a small dot racing past your field of view.

If you plan to spot any of these, I suggest being prepared at least 5 minutes before – make sure you locate the estimated position and the neighbouring (well, not literally) stars/planets, and scan the area around the path at the given time.

What would be ultracool? A webcam setup with a small scope that tracks these satellites automatically and uploads the video feed on the internet.