Satellites command (Data menu)

 

Use the options in the Satellites dialog box to import satellite two or three line element (TLE) data and display the positions of artificial satellites on the Virtual Sky.

 

TheSky6 uses orbital element information from Space Command Center's two-line element files (TLEs) to predict and display satellites’ paths. Two-line element data must be frequently updated and is available for most satellites on the Internet.  

 

Gravitational forces, among other things, constantly perturb the orbit of a satellite around earth, so its path is not precisely predictable over long periods of time.  Any text file that contains valid TLE data can be used to import satellites. into TheSky6.  

 

Sample TLE data for the GOES 2 satellite:

 

GOES 2

  1. 10061U 77048A 98127.50441330 .00000045 00000-0 10000-3 0 97472 10061 13.1659 29.4732 0005723 183.8196 16.8163 1.00281760 21356

 

Operation

Procedure

To Load TLE Data from the Web

  1. Click Data | Satellites.

  2. Click Import From Web.

  3. On the Import Satellites from Web dialog box, select the category of satellite data to retrieve from the web.

  4. Click OK.

 

To Save TLE Data to a Text File

  1. From your web browser, visit Celestrak web site

  2. Click the Current Data link to retrieve a list of satellite categories.

  3. Click on the TLE data set you wish to view. For example, Weather Satellites.

  4. From your browser, click Edit | Select All.

  5. From your browser, click Edit | Copy.

  6. Open NotePad (or other text editor), and click Edit | Paste.

  7. Extract and save the text file to the <My Documents>\Software Bisque\Satellites folder.

 

 

To Display Satellites in TheSky6

  1. Click Data | Satellites.

  2. Click Import From File and select the desired TLE file name (from step 5 above for this example).

  3. Click OK.

 

The satellites in the TLE file are now shown on the Virtual Sky.

 

To Find Satellites

  1. Click Edit | Find.

  2. Navigate to the Solar System | Satellites node in the Find tree list.

  3. Click on the satellite name and then click Find to show the Object Information dialog box for this object.

 

To Label Satellites

 

  1. Click View | Display Explorer.

  2. Navigate to the Spacecraft | Labels node.

  3. Mark the desired satellite labeling option (identifier, range, longitude/latitude).

 

The satellites from the selected TLE file are now displayed. Use the Find command to locate a particular satellite.

 

 

Registered users can visit the following page to download the latest satellite data: Two-Line Element Sets Current Data (web link).

 

Related Topics

 

This feature is included with this edition of TheSky6

Professional Edition

This feature is included with this edition of TheSky6

Serious Astronomer Edition

 

Student Edition