TAROT Space visualisation tool Follow FizzicsEd Articles: Comments 0 Ever wondered just where the satellites are overhead? What about space debris? With the free tool T.A.R.O.T by Saber Astronautics, you can find out! Saber Astronautics is an Australian space company based in Adelaide that runs a mission operations centre that tracks space missions, plus designs them on behalf of government and corporate entities. T.A.R.O.T. is an acronym for Terrestrial and Astronomical Rapid Observation Toolkit. This is a handy tool for anyone who wants to understand where our satellites really are, what they are carrying, and you can track them live as they pass overhead in real time. There are no accounts needed, no costs and access to the data is free. Satellite tracking and visualisation made easy Using the T.A.R.O.T tool is easy, just control with a mouse to zoom out or in or click and hold the mouse button as you move the mouse to change the perspective. If you click on any of the dots, you will get far more information about that satellite. If you know the NORAD ID, you can type that in to find the satellite you are looking for. Things to check out about the satellites: their velocity their altitude who owns the satellite the period of orbit & more Main types of satellite orbits As you look at the movements of the satellites, you’d find that they mainly fall into three orbit categories: Feature LEO (Low Earth Orbit) MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) GEO (Geostationary Orbit) Altitude 160 – 2,000 km 2,000 – 35,786 km ~35,786 km Orbital Period ~90 minutes 2 – 12 hours 24 hours (matches Earth) Latency (Delay) Very Low (< 30 ms) Medium (~100 ms) High (> 600 ms) Motion Moves fast across the sky Moves slowly across the sky Appears stationary (fixed) Satellites Needed to cover Earth continously Hundreds or Thousands (Constellations) ~20–30 3 can cover most of the Earth Best For High-speed Internet, Earth Observation GPS/Navigation, regional comms TV Broadcast, Weather, Government There are also two other special types of orbits as well: HEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit) Instead of a circle, these orbits are long ovals. This serves the high latitudes (near the poles) that GEO satellites cannot reach. How it works: The satellite zooms past the Earth quickly at the bottom of the oval but “hangs” for a long time at the top of the oval, giving it a long dwell time over countries like Russia or Canada. SSO (Sun-Synchronous Orbit) A special type of LEO often used for photography. Here, the satellite passes over a specific point on Earth at the exact same local solar time every day (e.g., it crosses Paris every day exactly at noon). This ensures shadows are always the same length, making it easier to track changes like deforestation or people movements over time. Space debris visualisation What is very handy is also showing where space debris is being tracked. Just scroll on the left-hand menu and check the box for space debris and you can get a clear idea that there is a lot of space debris in LEO (Low Earth Orbit). This is very handy as we consider the effect of adding to space debris and the issues it creates for potential impacts. Space debris is such as rocket bodies are specifically tracked as well (for example, see the ARIANE 5 rocket orbit trajectory below). You can also quickly find out where the International Space Station is too. Want more ideas for teaching science? Stars and planets school science visits Primary School High School Go further – space STEM shallenge! Join the AVA Challenge Easy! So next time you’re looking at learning more about human spaceflight in one of your space lessons, consider T.A.R.O.T by Saber Astronautics as a handy way to look at satellite orbits, space debris and visualising just what is above us as we look to the skies. Happy teaching, Ben Newsome Want more ideas for teaching science? Subscribe to the FizzicsEd Podcast! Love Science? Subscribe! Join our newsletter Receive more lesson plans and fun science ideas. 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Ever wondered just where the satellites are overhead? What about space debris? With the free tool T.A.R.O.T by Saber Astronautics, you can find out! Saber Astronautics is an Australian space company based in Adelaide that runs a mission operations centre that tracks space missions, plus designs them on behalf of government and corporate entities. T.A.R.O.T. is an acronym for Terrestrial and Astronomical Rapid Observation Toolkit. This is a handy tool for anyone who wants to understand where our satellites really are, what they are carrying, and you can track them live as they pass overhead in real time. There are no accounts needed, no costs and access to the data is free. Satellite tracking and visualisation made easy Using the T.A.R.O.T tool is easy, just control with a mouse to zoom out or in or click and hold the mouse button as you move the mouse to change the perspective. If you click on any of the dots, you will get far more information about that satellite. If you know the NORAD ID, you can type that in to find the satellite you are looking for. Things to check out about the satellites: their velocity their altitude who owns the satellite the period of orbit & more Main types of satellite orbits As you look at the movements of the satellites, you’d find that they mainly fall into three orbit categories: Feature LEO (Low Earth Orbit) MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) GEO (Geostationary Orbit) Altitude 160 – 2,000 km 2,000 – 35,786 km ~35,786 km Orbital Period ~90 minutes 2 – 12 hours 24 hours (matches Earth) Latency (Delay) Very Low (< 30 ms) Medium (~100 ms) High (> 600 ms) Motion Moves fast across the sky Moves slowly across the sky Appears stationary (fixed) Satellites Needed to cover Earth continously Hundreds or Thousands (Constellations) ~20–30 3 can cover most of the Earth Best For High-speed Internet, Earth Observation GPS/Navigation, regional comms TV Broadcast, Weather, Government There are also two other special types of orbits as well: HEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit) Instead of a circle, these orbits are long ovals. This serves the high latitudes (near the poles) that GEO satellites cannot reach. How it works: The satellite zooms past the Earth quickly at the bottom of the oval but “hangs” for a long time at the top of the oval, giving it a long dwell time over countries like Russia or Canada. SSO (Sun-Synchronous Orbit) A special type of LEO often used for photography. Here, the satellite passes over a specific point on Earth at the exact same local solar time every day (e.g., it crosses Paris every day exactly at noon). This ensures shadows are always the same length, making it easier to track changes like deforestation or people movements over time. Space debris visualisation What is very handy is also showing where space debris is being tracked. Just scroll on the left-hand menu and check the box for space debris and you can get a clear idea that there is a lot of space debris in LEO (Low Earth Orbit). This is very handy as we consider the effect of adding to space debris and the issues it creates for potential impacts. Space debris is such as rocket bodies are specifically tracked as well (for example, see the ARIANE 5 rocket orbit trajectory below). You can also quickly find out where the International Space Station is too. Want more ideas for teaching science? Stars and planets school science visits Primary School High School Go further – space STEM shallenge! Join the AVA Challenge Easy! So next time you’re looking at learning more about human spaceflight in one of your space lessons, consider T.A.R.O.T by Saber Astronautics as a handy way to look at satellite orbits, space debris and visualising just what is above us as we look to the skies. Happy teaching, Ben Newsome Want more ideas for teaching science? Subscribe to the FizzicsEd Podcast!
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