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Canon lets you shoot photos from space with its new CE-SAT-1 microsatellite emulator

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While Canon might’ve suffered something of a setback with the destruction of its CE-SAT-1B satellite last year, it does still have the original CE-SAT-1 flying over the planet, with plans to launch more. In the meantime, though, they’ve launched a new website that allows you to shoot photos with the $9 million satellite, launched in 2017.

You don’t get free run of the planet, of course, but Canon’s new Redefine the Limits website allows you to look through a select number of views on different parts of the Earth to pan and zoom and shoot a photo – along with latitude, longitude and altitude data, with the Canon EOS 5D Mark III flying 500 kilometres above the surface.

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Canon’s CE-SAT-IB imaging satellite “destroyed” during rocket launch

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It seems that Canon’s CE-SAT-1B camera satellite was not meant to be. The BBC reports that Electron, the rocket launched by American company Rocket Lab, failed in its late ascent and that all satellite payloads are “assumed to have been destroyed” which includes Canon’s new imaging satellite

The CE-SAT-1B satellite was the one we told you about a couple of weeks ago that, for some reason, was loaded with a Canon 5D Mark III and a PowerShot S110. It was a small satellite, measuring only 50x50x70cm, but would offer a 1-metre ground resolution view of the earth’s surface from 600km above its surface.

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Canon is launching a satellite, but why are they sending it up with a 5D Mark III?

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Canon is launching a satellite. It’s the CE-SAT 1B (Canon Electric Satellite 1B). It’s an experimental Earth observing microsatellite developed and built by Canon Electronics. The satellite is quite small, measuring only 50x50x70cm and it’s based on the Hodoyoshi-1 satellite, launched in 2014.

Canon sent the original CE-SAT 1 into space in 2017, so the idea is nothing new, but this time we’re hearing about the cameras that are going to be included on the satellite. And strangely, it’s the Canon 5D Mark III and (even more strangely) the Canon PowerShot S110. It seems like an odd combination when Canon’s about to make a big splash with the EOS R5.

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NASA needs your help to track light pollution and all you need is your smartphone

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Astronomers have been worried about the effect of satellites, as heir increasing number in the orbit is posing a problem for night skies observation. We can’t do anything to remove them – but we can now help monitor the problem. With its new project Satellite Streak Watcher, NASA asks everyone to help to track the population growth of satellites over time. And all you need is a smartphone camera.

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Astronomers worried as SpaceX’s Starlink satellites ruin their observation of the night skies

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The first batch of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites was launched in May this year, making astronomers worried about how they would affect the night sky. Now that the second batch has been launched, the astronomers’ concerns are becoming a reality.

On Monday 18 November, two astronomers checked the image of their remotely operated telescope in Chile. But instead of a clear night sky, they saw a bunch of light trails from Starlink satellites.

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Astrophotographers, this is how Starlink satellites will affect the night skies

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On 23 May, the first 60 SpaceX’s Starlink satellites were successfully launched into orbit. They were caught on camera and they look spectacular while orbiting around the Earth together. However, the ultimate plan is to launch nearly 12,000 of these satellites. Have you wondered how it will affect the night skies? Astronomers are concerned that they will pollute the night sky, and astrophotography is only one of the areas that could be hindered by this many satellites in the orbit.

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This is what the Earth looks like from the dark side of the Moon

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I believe we’ve all seen the famous Earthrise photo taken by the Apollo 8 crew 50 years ago. But thanks to a Chinese satellite that’s currently in lunar orbit, we get to see the Erath and the Moon from a totally different and rare perspective. On 3 February current year, the satellite captured an image of the far side of the Moon with our planet in the background.

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NASA’s newest satellite sends its first test image, and it’s stellar

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Last month, NASA launched TESS, a satellite that will search thousands of stars for Earth-like exoplanets. TESS has just sent back its first photo, and although it’s just a test image, it’s fascinating and gives you an idea of how big the mission is. The photo shows more than 200,000 stars, and four TESS cameras will cover more than 400 times as much sky during the mission.

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300 Employees Take A Group Photo From Space

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Celebrating Israel Space Week, which started on Sunday, employees of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) had a group photo taken from space.

The photo, which depicted the company’s initials, was captured by the EROS-B (Earth Remote Observation System-B) satellite from a height of 520km (325 miles).

The 300 or so employees had to be at a specific location at a very precise time for the photo-op to work. Luckily, determining these factors was a piece of cake, as they are somewhat familiar with the satellite – they built it.

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