Hey guys and gals, ever considered buying an image intensifier? This is my Hawke NV1000 night vision monocular, price was a bit steep at 200 GBpounds (248 US dollars) but being able to see in the dark is worth it.. Still testing it out, can't wait to get out onto Bodmin Moor to look for the Beast of Bodmin, and to scan the night sky looking for alien motherships!. Below- Smeaton's Lighthouse in Plymouth at night with its light out as seen with the Hawke, it's almost invisible to the naked eyeball but not to the Hawke- Below-The 3 stars of Orion's belt. The Hawke is not exactly Hubble quality but its not bad, it also shows fainter stars not visible to the human eye- Below- Hi ladies! The faint light of a nearby streetlamp lights everywhere up like a floodlight when viewed with the Hawke- It's also got an optional built-in infra-red illuminator for seeing in pitch black conditions, and it can take still pics or vids. I like the way you don't get a greenish image like with some image intensifiers. On the downside, it's zoom is permanently fixed at 5x zoom so you can't zoom in and out. Also it was a bit of a downer to find that the moon is a dazzlingly bright ball, but I suppose that's only to be expected because the thing is meant for low-light level viewing, and if there are any bright lights in the frame like the moon or streetlights they mess up the image. The batteries are rechargeable but don't last forever so you need to carry some spares when out in the field. I'm going to try to find the Andromeda galaxy next time we get clear skies.. There are peoples youtube vids of the Hawke in action.
Yes one can see Satellites even the International Space station in the proper clear dark light.With Binoculars ... BTW.
I've always believed in them. I think it's rather arrogant of people (not you, per se) to think that in the whole galaxy that stretches into infinity that Earth is the only planet that has life on it. I'm also inclined to believe that the aliens observing the crap that's going on on Earth, that's the reason why they won't talk to us.......
I am well aware and have posted in this thread I have seen it a few times myself, but that is not what you are saying you saw. Keep in mind that the space station is much larger an closer than a satellite
Quite true. But then, unfiltered sunlight striking a silver object, (which satellites mostly are), is going to reflect very vividly to an observer. Especially since that reflected light is set against a backdrop of black space. I'm pretty confident that what I saw really was Sputnik. Because, (a) we were alerted by radio that the satellite would be passing overhead at a specific time and in a specific direction; (b) it was around 1957, before there were jet airliners travelling at very high altitudes in Australia; (c) we were located far from a major city, in a coastal township which was barely developed then; (d) it was a very clear, still night without clouds, and we were allowed to lie outside on the grass for quite a while, waiting. When it appeared, (or rather, when we spotted it), it was a tiny point of white light, moving from horizon to horizon, without the slightest deviation. We had to continually "recapture" it, because it looked like a small pale star. There was absolutely no aeroplane sound, which we were quite accustomed to hearing whenever a plane went overhead, (props, not jets). It was also a topic of conversation at school for some time after that.
