I sometimes see artificial earth satellites moving across the sky at night. Where is a good place to find out more about satellites and satellite tracking?
A few good websites include:
Heavens-Above
I saw something moving across the sky last night! What was it?
What you saw could have been one of three (or more) things, depending on its duration and apparent speed. Most likely, what you saw was a fireball, or a very bright meteor (shooting star). Usually, fireballs streak across the sky in a matter of seconds, but can leave a faint ionization trail visible for minutes. They can be as bright as the Moon sometimes. On the other hand, it could have been a satellite in orbit around the Earth. They are much slower moving and relatively constant in brightness.
What software do you recommend for detecting moving objects in images? And, can we obtain SPACEWATCH®'s own software?
SPACEWATCH® software was written for our project, and will only work with our detectors and computers; thus, we do not make it available.
But, there are many commercially-available software packages to choose from; these evolve rapidly, so this is a good question to pose to one of the active on-line discussion groups of amateurs and professionals devoted to the detection of minor planets, e. g., the Minor Planet Mailing List (MPML).