Uranus

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This is the first photo I have ever taken (at least intentionally) of the planet Uranus. I had only slow film, and no tracking mount, so just I held the shutter open for 9 minutes and let the planet and background stars drift across the frame as the earth turned. Uranus (magnitude 5.8) is the blue-green streak just below the brightest star (Lambda Aquarii, magnitude 3.7). Uranus and Lambda Aquarii are arrowed in the labeled version of this image.

But I didn't realize at the time that the photo also included the band of sky where geostationary satellites appear: about negative 5 or 6 degrees declination as seen from where the photo was taken in east-central Arizona. These communications satellites, at an altitude of 22,300 miles above the equator, orbit the earth at the same rate the earth turns, which means they stay at a fixed point in the sky -- and show up as a point of light on a photo taken with a fixed camera. Six such points of light -- each one possibly a geostationary satellite -- are circled in the labeled version of this image.

Date: October 9, 2006
Time: 7:20 to 7:29 p.m. MST (02:20 to 02:29 10 October 2006 UT)
Location: Fool Hollow Lake State Recreation Area, Arizona (34.273°N, 110.063°W)
Camera: Olympus OM-1 35mm SLR on fixed tripod
Film: Fuji Provia 100F slide
Focal length: 200 mm
Aperture: f/4
Exposure time: 9 minutes
Scanner: Nikon Coolscan LS-2000