Around 2040 EST We viewed an irregularly flashing object flying from WSW to NNE (roughly) from Jacksonville FL. Is the SpaceX 2nd stage still up there and if so, would it be tumbling and visible? Is there somewhere I can go to see where there are known tumbling satellites?
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1calsky.com has a tool to show visible sats from location during a time interval. But it doesn't show a match for your time and location (assuming your time was on Feb 19). – BowlOfRed Sep 09 '17 at 22:30
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You wouldn't see a 2nd stage tumbling and visible. Odds are pretty high that what you saw was some kind of an aircraft. The best site to see visible satellites, or at least the one that I use, is http://heavens-above.com/
PearsonArtPhoto
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I can't see how to set the date and time to 20-Feb-2017 01:40 UTC in heavens-above. – uhoh Sep 09 '17 at 17:08
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Yeah, that makes it tricky... What you would have to do is plot the brightest objects using something like STK. Heavens-above would only really work if you used it the same day. – PearsonArtPhoto Sep 09 '17 at 17:10
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in-the-sky.org has a GUI for everything. Also, why would 2nd stages be invisible? – uhoh Sep 09 '17 at 17:13
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The second stage is very small. It will be visible when it's rocket is going off, but otherwise not very likely. Also, the point where it comes down isn't related to where it launched at all. – PearsonArtPhoto Sep 09 '17 at 17:27
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OK, so in general all of the rocket bodies that heavens-above lists are first stages? (here's one example) – uhoh Sep 09 '17 at 17:51
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They aren't much brighter than dim stars. Pretty unlikely to see them near a city in Florida. – PearsonArtPhoto Sep 09 '17 at 18:11
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3First stages come back down. Those rocket bodies must be upper stages. – Russell Borogove Sep 09 '17 at 18:23
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I agree, also I think the Falcon 9 2nd stage is pretty big as visible space objects go, it looks several meters long. – Puffin Oct 03 '18 at 19:03
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