ESA’s Sentinel-2C satellite imaged – 6 Sept. 2024
We imaged the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2C satellite again, capturing a beautiful picture We share it here.
Sentinel-2C satellite. 6 Sept. 2024.
The image above comes from a single 3-second exposure, remotely taken with the ARTEC250+Paramount ME+C3Pro61000EC robotic unit available as part of the Virtual Telescope Project facility in Manciano, Italy. The telescope tracked Sentinel-2C while imaging.
Capturing the satellite was a demanding task, as it was moving very fast (0.2 degree/s); it was about 13 deg. above the North-Eastern horizon. Despite its apparent speed, the 250mm unit part of our robotic facility succeeded imaging the target as a very sharp dot of light,soon after it left the Earth’s shadow. It was at about 2100 km from our telescopes and about 790km above the Earth surface, accordingly to the available TLEs.
The sky quality of the observing site in Manciano, the darkest one on the Italian peninsula, helped significantly to succeed in this effort.
We also imaged the satellite yesterday, less than 24 hours after its launch.
To learn more about Sentinel-2C, part of the Copernicus program, please check the ESA’s press release.
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