> Normally, I thought, geostationary satellites have fixed positions. The > pictures are at > > http://www.iss-tracking.de/images/stationpic.html > ... Subject: NOSS angular separation > ... > Another question---are they all equidistant or are two much closer together? Geostationary satellites are not "fixed", they are following an orbit near the equator. To appear fixed, the orbit must be perfectly circular, and have the same period as the Earth's rotation. But any orbit is perturbed by Moon, Solar radiation pressure (SRP), Asymmetric gravitational field of the Earth ... ..., and must be corrected occasionally to remain close to the ideal. The same goes for NOSS. If they were maintaining constant distances (not by constant engine power, like StarTrek) they would at any one instant have equal speeds and "parallell" directions. This could work for the leader/trailer, but the "outlier" will have a different inclination, and intersect the orbit of the others near the equator. The outlier is normally closer to the leader. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@satobs.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/sat/seesat/seesatindex.html
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