I Accidentally Photographed Something Unknown During the Eclipse - Smarter Every Day 298

SmarterEveryDay
19 May 202423:40

Summary

TLDRIn this script, Destin, the host of Smarter Every Day, recounts his thrilling experience of capturing a total solar eclipse in 2024. Inspired by Dr. Gordon Telepun, Destin attempts a technically challenging photography feat: capturing the eclipse's progression on a single piece of film without film advancement between shots. With the help of friends and family, and after meticulous planning, Destin documents the celestial event, including the magical moments of totality and the mysterious sighting of an unidentified flying object during the eclipse. The script details the process, the joy of discovery, and the successful outcome of their unique eclipse photography project.

Takeaways

  • 🌟 The video documents Destin's experience with the 2024 total solar eclipse, during which he attempted a unique photography challenge.
  • 📸 Destin was inspired by Dr. Gordon Telepun, who introduced him to his love for total solar eclipses, and they planned to view the 2024 eclipse together.
  • 🎞️ Dr. Telepun suggested a technical challenge to capture multiple images of the eclipse on a single piece of film without the camera advancing the film, a technique from the past.
  • 🤔 Destin faced the difficulty of finding a camera that could take multiple shots on the same frame without advancing the film, and sought help from his friends in Finland.
  • 📷 The Mami RZ67 Pro was identified as a suitable camera for the challenge, and Destin prepared meticulously for the eclipse with the help of Dr. Telepun.
  • 👨‍👧‍👦 Destin involved his family in the eclipse experience, with his son operating a tracker mount and his daughter conducting an experiment to view the eclipse indirectly.
  • 📹 In addition to the film camera, Destin and others used various cameras and equipment to capture the eclipse, including a 4K video camera.
  • 🔍 While reviewing the video footage, Destin noticed an unidentified object moving across the sky during the eclipse, which he suspected could be a satellite.
  • 🤓 He consulted with Jonathan McDowell, an expert in satellite tracking, to analyze the object's speed and trajectory to determine if it could be a satellite.
  • 🌐 With the help of another YouTuber, Jeff Geerling, and by comparing their footage, Destin concluded that the object was likely a satellite at high altitude.
  • 🎉 The film from the Mami RZ67 Pro was successfully developed, and the final composite image was a stunning representation of the eclipse as seen through multiple exposures on a single frame.

Q & A

  • What significant event did Destin capture during the 2024 total solar eclipse?

    -Destin captured a mysterious object that he was unable to identify, which appeared to be flying across the sky during the eclipse.

  • What phenomenon did people in the video witness during the eclipse?

    -People in the video witnessed Bailey's Beads and the Diamond Ring effect, which are both occurrences just before and after totality during a solar eclipse.

  • What was the technical challenge that Dr. Telepun proposed to Destin?

    -Dr. Telepun proposed a challenge to capture the solar eclipse on a single piece of film without the camera advancing the film between shots, which would require precise timing and focus.

  • Why did Destin and Tara decide to watch the 2024 total solar eclipse with Dr. Telepun?

    -Destin and Tara decided to watch the eclipse with Dr. Telepun because he was the one who instilled in them a love for total solar eclipses.

  • What special camera feature did Destin need to accomplish Dr. Telepun's challenge?

    -Destin needed a camera with a multi-shot mode that wouldn't advance the film after each shot, allowing him to take multiple exposures on a single piece of film.

  • How did Destin and his friends ensure they captured the International Space Station transiting the 2017 solar eclipse?

    -Destin and his friend Trevor used a combination of math, a solar tracker, and precise timing to successfully capture the International Space Station transiting the solar eclipse.

  • What unique photograph did Destin create during the 2019 solar eclipse in Argentina?

    -Destin created a composite photograph that combined multiple digital photos taken during the eclipse, showing the solar eclipse setting over the Andes Mountains.

  • What was the significance of the object that appeared in Destin's video footage after the eclipse?

    -The object could potentially be a satellite, a bug, or a plane, and its identification became a subject of curiosity and investigation.

  • How did Destin attempt to determine if the object in the video was a satellite?

    -Destin reached out to Jonathan McDowell, an expert on satellite information, who helped analyze the object's speed and trajectory to determine if it could be a satellite.

  • What was the outcome of Destin's attempt to capture the 2024 total solar eclipse on a single piece of film?

    -Destin successfully captured the sequence of the eclipse on a single piece of film, which was confirmed when the film was developed at Indie Film Lab.

  • What was the final step in confirming the identity of the object in the video?

    -The final step involved comparing the video footage from Destin's camera with that of another YouTuber, Jeff Geerling, who was filming from a nearby location.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Capturing the Unidentified: A Total Solar Eclipse Experience

The narrator discusses an unidentified phenomenon captured during the 2024 total solar eclipse. The video captures the excitement of witnessing Bailey's Beads and the Diamond Ring effect, with people cheering in the background. The narrator reflects on his passion for eclipses, sparked by Dr. Gordon Telepun, and recounts past experiences, including a successful attempt to photograph the International Space Station during a 2017 eclipse. The video is a personal story about a challenging photographic endeavor involving capturing multiple stages of an eclipse on a single piece of film, a technique that has become a lost art.

05:00

📸 The Challenge of Film Photography: Eclipse Time-lapse

The script details the technical challenge of capturing a time-lapse of the 2024 total solar eclipse on a single piece of film without the camera advancing the film after each shot. The narrator explains the process, which involves using a special camera and taking photos at precise intervals. With the help of friends in Finland, the narrator acquires a Mamiya RZ67 Pro camera and sets up a solar tracker. The video also includes interactions with Dr. Telepun, who shares his enthusiasm for eclipses and educates others about the event. The family aspect is highlighted, with the narrator's children participating in the eclipse observation and experiments.

10:04

👨‍👧‍👦 Family and Friends Unite for the Eclipse

The video script describes the family-oriented experience of the total solar eclipse, with the narrator's father, mother-in-law, and brother joining in the event. There's a focus on Dr. Telepun's educational efforts, as he sets up stations to explain the eclipse to children and the public. The script captures the excitement leading up to the eclipse, with the preparation of cameras and the anticipation of capturing the perfect sequence of the event. The moment of totality is depicted as awe-inspiring, with the narrator expressing the desire to share this experience with his wife and children.

15:05

🔎 Analyzing the Unexplained: A Possible Satellite Sighting

After the eclipse, the narrator investigates an unidentified flying object caught on video during the event. The object's speed and trajectory are analyzed, with the help of satellite expert Jonathan McDowell, to determine if it could be a satellite. The analysis suggests the object could be moving at orbital velocities, consistent with a satellite. The narrator then compares his footage with that of another YouTuber, Jeff Geerling, to conclude that the object is likely a satellite, given its appearance in both videos taken from different angles.

20:15

🎞️ The Thrilling Reveal of the Solar Eclipse Film Sequence

The script concludes with the development and reveal of the film sequence captured during the total solar eclipse. The narrator visits Indie Film Lab, where the film is scanned, and the results are astonishing. The film captures a series of images of the eclipse, demonstrating the successful execution of the challenging photography task. The narrator shares the excitement of the achievement with Dr. Telepun and expresses gratitude to his Patreon supporters. The video ends with a call to action for viewers to subscribe to the Smarter Every Day channel and a final appreciation for the viewers' presence.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Total Solar Eclipse

A total solar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the moon completely covers the sun, casting a shadow on Earth and causing a temporary darkness in the observed area. In the video, the total solar eclipse serves as the central theme, with the narrator recounting his experiences and preparations for witnessing this phenomenon. The excitement and anticipation of the event are palpable, as are the reactions of the people present during the eclipse, such as the exclamations of 'Oh, Bailey's Beads!' and 'Diamond Ring!'

💡Baily's Beads

Baily's Beads is a phenomenon observed during a total solar eclipse just before the moon completely covers the sun, where beads of light are visible around the edges of the moon due to the sun's uneven surface. In the script, the narrator and others excitedly point out the appearance of Baily's Beads, indicating the imminent totality of the eclipse, which is a moment of awe and wonder for the viewers.

💡Diamond Ring

The Diamond Ring effect is another term for the last bright spot of the sun disappearing behind the moon during a total solar eclipse, creating a visual similar to a diamond ring. In the script, the Diamond Ring effect is mentioned as a moment of collective cheer and excitement, marking the beginning of the total eclipse phase.

💡International Space Station (ISS)

The International Space Station is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit, where astronauts conduct scientific research and live. In the video, the narrator mentions a previous endeavor where he and a friend attempted to capture the ISS transiting the total solar eclipse in 2017, showcasing the technical and creative aspects of his passion for astronomy.

💡Composite Image

A composite image is a photograph made by combining multiple photos into a single image, often used to create a unique visual effect. The narrator describes his favorite shot from the 2019 solar eclipse in Argentina as a composite, where he layered several digital photos to show the eclipse setting over the Andes Mountains, demonstrating his love for both photography and eclipses.

💡Color Positive Film

Color positive film, also known as slide film or reversal film, is a type of photographic film that produces a positive image after processing. In the script, Dr. Telepun suggests using color positive film to capture the eclipse on a single piece of film, which is a challenging and old-fashioned technique that the narrator undertakes.

💡Corona

The corona is the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere, which is visible during a total solar eclipse as a halo of plasma surrounding the moon. The script mentions planning to capture the corona on film, which is a unique aspect of the eclipse that can only be seen during totality.

💡Film Camera

A film camera is a device that records photographic images on film stock, as opposed to digital cameras that record images electronically. The narrator discusses using a film camera for the challenging task of capturing the eclipse sequence on a single piece of film, emphasizing the analog and technical nature of the project.

💡Satellite

A satellite is an object that orbits a larger object in space. In the script, the narrator captures an unidentified flying object during the eclipse, which he suspects might be a satellite. This leads to an investigation involving calculations and comparisons with other footage to determine the nature of the object.

💡Orbital Mechanics

Orbital mechanics is the study of the motions of objects in space as they move under the influence of gravity. The script mentions the use of orbital mechanics to analyze the speed and trajectory of the suspected satellite, demonstrating the scientific approach to understanding celestial movements.

💡Indie Film Lab

Indie Film Lab is a facility that processes and scans film, providing services for photographers and filmmakers who work with film stock. In the video, the narrator visits Indie Film Lab to develop the film from his camera, revealing the successful capture of the eclipse sequence and highlighting the importance of this service in the film photography process.

Highlights

Destin captured an unidentified object during the 2024 total solar eclipse.

Witnessed Bailey's Beads and the Diamond Ring effect during the eclipse.

Destin's passion for total solar eclipses was sparked by Dr. Gordon Telepun.

Destin and Trevor attempted to photograph the International Space Station transiting the 2017 eclipse.

In Argentina 2019, Destin created a composite image of the solar eclipse over the Andes.

Dr. Telepun suggested a challenging film photography technique for the 2024 eclipse.

The challenge involved capturing the eclipse on a single piece of film without film advancement.

Destin could not find a suitable camera until his Finnish friends suggested the Mami RZ67 Pro.

The family and Dr. Telepun gathered in Jackson, Missouri, for the eclipse.

Dr. Telepun engaged in educational activities with the children present.

Destin's son operated a tracker mount camera during the eclipse.

Destin strictly followed Dr. Telepun's timing for photographing the eclipse.

Experienced the phenomenon of shadow bands just before totality.

Destin captured a possible satellite passing the sun during the eclipse.

Collaborated with Jonathan McDowell to analyze the unidentified flying object.

Compared footage with YouTuber Jeff Geerling to determine the object's altitude.

The film photography challenge resulted in a successful and historic capture.

Destin and Indie Film Lab scanned and printed the one-of-a-kind film sequence.

The final film sequence was shared with Dr. Telepun, who was impressed.

Transcripts

00:00

During the 2024 total solar eclipse,

00:03

I captured something I haven't been able to identify.

00:06

See if you can see it.

00:07

[Other people talking] Coming out.

00:11

Oh, Bailey's Beads! Diamond Ring!

00:14

[Other people cheering in the background] "WHEEWWW!"

00:17

[Destin] Did you see it?

00:18

Let's back it up and play it again.

00:20

Focus on this band of the sky right here.

00:23

What is this?

00:28

And what is this?

00:34

we're going to talk about this later.

00:36

This video is about something I love,

00:38

and so I don't feel any pressure to make a video that will perform for the algorithm.

00:43

I'm just going to tell you a story

00:45

about a thing that happened to me, and it's something I love.

00:48

So by now, we're about a month after the total solar eclipse here in America.

00:53

And a lot of people are uploading their

00:55

videos, and people have been asking me, Hey, what did you do for the eclipse?

00:58

And I haven't been able to tell anybody what I did because it has taken until now.

01:02

It's 10:00 PM, about a month later,

01:05

I just now figured out if I succeeded or failed with the thing I tried to do.

01:11

And it's really fun, and I want to tell you what I did.

01:13

Okay, so let me take you back.

01:14

A long time ago, a guy named Dr.

01:16

Gordon Telepun told me I would love total solar eclipses, and I kinda didn't believe him.

01:21

This is going away from you and to the side.

01:26

It's unbelievable. I saw him in 2002.

01:28

But I took his word on it, and I totally fell in love with it.

01:31

In fact, in 2017,

01:33

I did the math with a friend named Trevor, and we decided to go to Wyoming to try

01:37

to capture the International Space Station transiting the total solar eclipse.

01:41

But at that point, the most technical shot

01:44

I had ever done with photography, and we got it.

01:47

Two, one, transit. Oh, it happened.

01:51

I saw it.

01:52

I totally saw it.

01:58

Tara and I fell in love with total solar

02:01

eclipses so much that two years later in 2019, we went to Argentina and we

02:05

filmed that solar eclipse, and we just got to experience it

02:08

in the middle of the desert overlooking the Andes Mountains.

02:11

My favorite shot of that eclipse in 2019

02:14

was this composite of a bunch of different digital photos that I took.

02:17

I had strung them all together and laid them over the same image,

02:21

and you can see the solar eclipse setting over the Andes Mountains.

02:25

I love that shot. It's a composite.

02:27

It's got multiple images in the same image, and I did that with Photoshop.

02:30

We love that photo.

02:32

So when we realized there was going to be a total solar eclipse in 2024,

02:36

Tara had the idea, We've got to watch an eclipse with Dr. Telepun

02:40

He's the one that gave us this love of this thing.

02:43

It would be amazing to see him see a total solar eclipse.

02:47

So we decided to meet him and his wife for lunch.

02:50

And then Dr. Telepun

02:51

said something that seemed so

02:54

impossible to me, but it combined all the different technical things that I love.

02:58

So color positive film?

02:59

Yeah, just regular ectachrome, whatever they used to call it back then.

03:02

You want about six before?

03:05

You don't want too many.

03:06

Then we'll take a corona shot and we'll do

03:08

about six after on the same piece of slide film like they used to do a long time ago.

03:13

It would be really cool.

03:15

To be clear, this is what Dr. Telepun

03:17

was asking me to do.

03:18

He said, you could do what you did on the Andy's shot where you stitched it

03:23

all together with a digital camera in Photoshop.

03:24

But what if you did it on one piece of film?

03:27

Film is unforgiving.

03:29

You get one shot at it,

03:30

and then you have to develop it, and whatever happens, happens.

03:33

So he was proposing that I put film in the camera,

03:36

and then I aim at the eclipse, and then I put my filter on in the partial phases.

03:40

I take a photo like that,

03:42

and then I do that every 10 minutes or so, and then I take the filter off,

03:49

I get totality, and then I put that back on, right?

03:52

The problem is most cameras will advance the film.

03:57

When you take a photo, it's rolling the film to the next shot.

04:00

So you have to get a special camera

04:02

that won't roll the film, and we're going to get all of that light

04:05

exposure on one piece of film, which means we get one chance to focus,

04:11

one chance to take 20 something shots, and then one chance to develop it.

04:15

So the risk is incredibly high,

04:18

but you could get a really, really cool photo,

04:22

probably the most technically difficult photo I've ever taken in my entire life.

04:25

So that was the challenge.

04:27

So I started trying to find cameras that that you could

04:31

take this photo and not advance the film, and I couldn't find one.

04:35

I could not figure out a way to take

04:37

a photo without moving the film and then taking a photo again,

04:41

because every time you reset the shutter, it would try to advance.

04:44

So what I needed was a camera

04:45

with multi-shot mode, and I had no idea where to find it.

04:49

So as it got closer and closer

04:51

to the Eclipse time, I realized I wasn't going to be able to figure this out.

04:54

So I called my friends at the kamera store in Finland, Youhoe and Niko.

04:59

These are my buddies.

05:00

I sent them this long email, and they said, You know what?

05:02

You go to sleep because we're in Finland. We're going to still be awake.

05:05

We will figure something out, and then we will email you something tomorrow.

05:08

And when they did, I opened my email and they had a video

05:11

of Niko explaining everything that I needed to do.

05:16

I put together what I think should work for your needs.

05:20

Mami RZ67 Pro.

05:23

And he explained everything about how to do it.

05:25

So about a week out from the Eclipse, I set up the solar tracker for the video

05:29

camera and the still camera that my son was going to run.

05:33

Dr.

05:33

Telapeen and I started trying to figure out the RZ67.

05:36

All right, seven minutes.

05:38

That's it. Wow.

05:39

That's fun, isn't it? That's nice.

05:41

Yeah, it's really fun.

05:42

One of the things I love about Dr. Telepun

05:43

is he genuinely loves things, and he's unapologetic about it.

05:47

He loves eclipses, and he wants you to love eclipses.

05:51

The night before the eclipse, when we arrived in Jackson, Missouri,

05:54

it was just very clear that he wanted everyone to have a great experience.

05:59

So Dr. Telapeen has my two youngest.

06:02

First of all, he's teaching them how to graph things.

06:05

They're going to be graphing

06:06

the temperature during the eclipse, and it is adorable.

06:09

This is where the eclipse is going to start.

06:11

Another cool thing about this is I got to take my family.

06:13

My brother came my mother-in-law, my dad.

06:16

We played some Mario Kart the night before.

06:18

It was just good family time.

06:20

You're going to try to beat Papa, Omi, and Mommy.

06:24

All right.

06:25

The morning of the Eclipse, Dr. Telepun

06:27

started setting up his stations,

06:29

just like the educational video that we made before the Eclipse.

06:32

He brought it all and he set it up,

06:34

and kids started walking up, and he started explaining it.

06:36

He was in teacher mode the whole time. He loved people.

06:39

He wanted to share everything.

06:41

His son and my son started working together.

06:44

His son started teaching my son how to take these photos.

06:47

And so my son started taking photos

06:48

with a tracker mount, and I just got to focus on the film.

06:51

Dr. Talebun asked my daughter to run this

06:54

specific experiment and show people that they could see the eclipse indirectly.

06:58

She did a great job with that, and I'm very proud of her.

07:00

So we had a line of cameras and tripods.

07:03

We're all looking at the sun, and we're using Dr. Telepun

07:05

Solar eclipse timer,

07:07

and we're getting ready for C1, first contact when the moon touches the sun.

07:11

Five, four, three, two, one.

07:16

That's first contact.

07:18

A couple of minutes later, it was time for the first photo of our sequence.

07:22

Thirty seconds. This was the moment of truth.

07:24

Once I set this camera in position, you can't move it.

07:27

So I locked everything down as hard as I

07:29

could, and I was quite scared that I was going to bump it.

07:31

But once you commit to this first photo, you can't move anything.

07:34

Three, two, one, zero.

07:40

All right, now we got eight minutes.

07:41

One of the things I messed up in Argentina in 2019 is I just randomly took photos,

07:45

and so my photos are not spaced out correctly.

07:49

Dr. Telepun did the math with his app to tell me exactly when to take photos.

07:53

So every so often,

07:54

we were very strict about taking that photo down to the second if we could

07:59

so that we get the spacing on the photo just right.

08:02

And one thing that was funny is you had all this fancy electronic equipment,

08:05

people tracker, amounts, all this stuff, computerized, whatever you have you.

08:09

And I'm out there with this big box film camera.

08:13

Three, two, One, take.

08:18

As the crescent of the sun got smaller

08:21

and smaller, the sharp and fuzzy shadows experiment started to show up.

08:24

The light got really eerie and icky feeling.

08:28

It feels so gross.

08:29

Everyone's got it.

08:31

Doesn't this feel gross?

08:32

Like the light feel pukey to you guys? Yeah.

08:35

I took some 3D wiggle grams with this Nashika film camera.

08:40

It takes four images at once.

08:42

If you put them together, you can get a 3D effect on film, which is awesome.

08:49

As we got close to totality, Dr. Telepun's

08:51

childlike joy started to come out.

08:54

Before I knew it,

08:55

I heard the call out for shadow bands, which means we're almost at totality.

09:00

Oh, shadow bands. Look at that.

09:02

Are they happening? Yeah.

09:03

Oh, they're happening. 30 seconds.

09:04

Hands on filters.

09:05

I saw shadow bands with my eyes, but I couldn't get them on camera.

09:09

They were too faint.

09:10

But the most important thing is I got to see Dr. Telepun

09:12

see shadow bands.

09:14

And then, totality happened, and it was awesome.

09:18

Holy cow. Oh, wow.

09:20

[Telepun] Look at Venus.

09:23

Dude. Oh, diamond ring.

09:31

[Destin] When do we shoot the shot?

09:33

[Telepun] Let's wait a little bit. Wait a little bit.

09:35

Oh, look at Venus. [D] That's so good.

09:37

[T] Look at Jupiter.

09:38

[D] Did you get the shots, brother? I got a lot of them.

09:40

Just shoot of them. I got to go kiss my wife.

09:42

The beautiful thing about Totality being four and a half minutes is I had plenty

09:46

of time to take photos, and I got to go give my wife a kiss.

09:49

I like to kiss Tara during Totality. It's a thing I love to do.

09:52

I got to go say something to all the kids, and I got to go try to get the shot.

09:57

It felt really strange at the moment

09:59

taking that exposure, knowing that there were 10 shots ahead of it.

10:04

I'm just hoping that I got the exposure

10:06

right on the shutter speed, because with totality, you have to guess.

10:10

All right, here we go.

10:12

Wow.

10:14

I'm going to do 60.

10:15

I got it.

10:16

Before I knew it, people were talking about the sun coming back.

10:20

[people in the crowd] Coming out.

10:23

Oh, baby.

10:25

The tiny face.

10:26

Oh, wow.

10:28

Oh, It comes back fast.

10:39

[T] You got even four minutes and nine seconds.

10:41

It's too fast. [D] It is, isn't it?

10:44

[T] I can't wait for Egypt.

10:45

[D] After that, you just walk around and talk

10:48

to people, and then we're waiting for that next call out because remember,

10:51

we've got more photos to take in order to get this sequence shot.

10:55

Okay, so we have done 11 exposures on this one piece of film.

11:00

What's about to happen is my daughter is going to take the last picture, right?

11:05

30 seconds.

11:06

And this is the last photo, correct? Last one.

11:09

Okay.

11:10

All right, hit it.

11:11

Great.

11:13

Great job.

11:15

Okay, the dark slide is in.

11:17

And the photo should be in this.

11:23

And it's going to take weeks to figure it out.

11:26

On the way back from Missouri, my dad drove and it started raining like crazy.

11:30

Crazy, which made me even more grateful that we got to see this.

11:33

I started looking at all the photos

11:34

and videos, and I looked at my son's photos, and he got some amazing shots,

11:38

and I'm super happy that he's going to have shots from this eclipse that he took.

11:42

I think that's really neat.

11:43

If you remember, he was running a tracker mount.

11:45

He was taking photos, but this camera over here was shooting 4K video.

11:49

When I started looking at this footage, I wanted to see C2 and C3, Bailey's beads,

11:54

around the edges of the mountains of the moon, right?

11:57

So I started looking at it,

11:58

and then I realized there is something flying across the sky, like right at C3.

12:04

It could be a bug, it could be a plane, or it could be a satellite.

12:08

Five seconds after the sun comes back,

12:10

look at the right side of the screen just as the lady yells.

12:15

[other people yelling] Oh, baby, she.

12:17

You already did it.

12:21

[D] Did you see it?

12:23

I'll rewind it and we can watch it again.

12:25

Look at the right side of the screen.

12:26

This time, I'll put an arrow up so you can see it.

12:29

Baby, she.

12:33

What's even more interesting is another

12:35

one happens immediately after this, except this one's on the solar disk.

12:42

How do we figure out if this is a satellite?

12:44

Now, the cool thing is once the sun

12:47

started coming out, that's when you started to see the bugs.

12:49

During totality, I couldn't see bugs flying around,

12:51

and I'm assuming that's their backlit wings and stuff like that.

12:55

It's a very difficult problem.

12:57

So I went to the smartest satellite person I know.

12:59

I follow him online.

13:00

His name is Jonathan McDowell.

13:02

He runs planet4589.org

13:04

which is a delightful old-school

13:07

website that's just pure satellite information.

13:10

Jonathan is awesome, and he knows what he's talking about.

13:13

I started by showing him the video and asking for his gut reaction.

13:16

[J] real-time? [D] It's real-time, yes.

13:19

[J] Okay. I think that's a bug.

13:21

[D] Okay. Tell me why.

13:22

[J] I Think it's going too fast.

13:24

[D] Okay. [J] I mean, it's not impossible.

13:25

I guess I wasn't thinking about how zoomed in that image is.

13:29

[D] Then Then I asked how Jonathan would do

13:31

the math to figure out if it was traveling at orbital velocities.

13:34

[J] We can figure out the angular velocity of this little thing as it crosses

13:40

your field of view, because we know how big the sun is.

13:42

The sun is about half a degree across, and it took about half a second.

13:47

Let's suppose that this is a few hundred kilometers away.

13:50

Let's say 500 kilometers away.

13:51

Let's see if I divide 500 by 60.

13:55

That's about eight kilometers a second. [D] Okay.

13:58

[J] It's not very different from the 7.

13:59

8 kilometers a second of a low-orbiting satellite.

14:04

And so that is not inconsistent

14:08

with the speed of a satellite going overhead.

14:12

So the fact that we can't rule out that it

14:13

was a satellite, It doesn't mean it was for sure a satellite, but it's intriguing.

14:18

[D] It's fun, yeah. [J] Yeah, it's fun.

14:20

So it's possible that it was.

14:22

So if this was a bug, it would be just above my camera fluttering around, right?

14:26

But if it's a satellite, it'll be way up in the sky.

14:29

So one One way to test to see if it was

14:31

a satellite or something, at least at satellite altitudes,

14:34

is to see if anybody in my area of operation there saw the same thing.

14:39

And there just happened to be a YouTuber set up at my same location.

14:43

I met him earlier that day, and you might recognize this guy.

14:47

So this is Jeff Geerling. Jeff Geerling has a YouTube channel.

14:50

And what's the name of your YouTube channel?

14:52

[J] Jeff Geerling. [D] Yeah, it is.

14:55

My son and I set the camera up here

14:56

to the north, and Jeff's camera was down here to the south.

14:59

We were about 130 meters apart.

15:01

Just after C3, I saw something fly by the sun.

15:05

The question is, is it a bug or a satellite?

15:07

That's the question.

15:08

[J] I saw it in your video, and it does look like a satellite going like that.

15:12

[D] So we looked at Jeff's raw footage, and there were a lot more bugs flying around.

15:15

Also, it was difficult to synchronize his footage to mind in time because at one

15:20

point, he cut his camera off to take photos.

15:23

Is it okay if I use this to try to figure this out?

15:25

[J] Oh, definitely.

15:26

If people want to check out your YouTube channel, where do they go?

15:30

[J] Jeff Geerling.

15:33

[D] There you go.

15:35

G-e-e-r-l-i-n-g, correct?

15:36

[J] Yeah, you got it.

15:38

You didn't spell it Girling like a lot of people do.

15:40

[D] There you go. Yeah.

15:41

Well, thank you very much, Jeff. I really appreciate it.

15:43

And I will go compare these videos and see what I can come up with.

15:46

There were three main differences

15:47

in the camera footage, and I corrected it all in Adobe Premiere.

15:50

Jeff's camera was more sensitive than mine.

15:52

His was filmed at a different angle than

15:54

mine, so I indexed off of Bayly's beads to make sure they were at the same rotation.

15:58

And then I was more zoomed in, so I adjusted the scale.

16:02

And once I got everything lined up, this is what you see.

16:05

Okay, I think I've got it to where it's about as clear as it can be.

16:08

So here's Jeff's footage right here

16:10

on the left, and I can turn it on and off like that.

16:13

And you can see I've indexed the sun on the prominences

16:17

right there on that spot in that spot, so I can turn it on and off like that.

16:21

So if I make this big...

16:24

Okay, so you got Jeff's footage on the left, you have mine on the right.

16:27

That's the object as it enters Jeff's of view.

16:30

This is the object as it enters mine.

16:32

If I step through, look at that.

16:35

It's there.

16:36

Look at that.

16:38

It's in both of our views.

16:40

We're about 100 yards away.

16:42

So if the the solar disk is about half a degree, it looks like ours is a 10th

16:48

of a degree offset, the object in his versus my frame.

16:52

That can't be a bug, right?

16:53

If we're 100 yards apart,

16:55

it can't be a bug in both of our lenses unless the bugs at 100,000 feet.

17:00

No, more than that.

17:01

And so you can work all the geometry.

17:04

This is workable.

17:06

[inaudible background talk]

17:17

We're going to call this a W.

17:19

That's got to be a satellite or something like it.

17:22

In fact, I had another camera set up,

17:24

and if you go to the right frames, you can see the object is there as well.

17:28

Even though this is a really wide angle,

17:30

you can still see something zipped by in a couple of different places.

17:33

So I'm going to call this a win.

17:35

We're going to call that satellite.

17:36

My next question was, what satellite?

17:39

I thought I had narrowed it down to Starlink satellite 30323,

17:43

but when I submitted the NORAD category ID number 57634 to celestrack.

17:50

Org and got the orbital data,

17:51

sometimes called a two-line element or a three-line element.

17:54

I then gave that to a smart friend of mine

17:56

with the ability to simulate all this stuff, and it doesn't seem like Starlink I

18:00

think 303-2-3 was close enough at that exact moment.

18:03

So here's the question,

18:04

if it was a satellite, and I think it was, what satellite was it?

18:08

I think you have all the information you need.

18:09

You know where I was, where I was pointing

18:12

5.5 seconds after C3, so you know when it was.

18:15

What satellite do you think this was?

18:17

I know someone on the Internet is smart enough to do this.

18:20

Space Force, I'm just going to say it.

18:22

You should use this as a challenge for your young guardians learning orbital

18:25

mechanics, and then give them permission to tell us what they learned.

18:29

I'm super curious about this,

18:31

and I'm excited to see where the answer comes from.

18:34

All right, now it's time to check up

18:36

on that piece of film we shot to see what's in there.

18:40

Okay, I'm driving to Indie Film Lab right now, and I am terrified.

18:43

Somebody could have bumped the tripod.

18:44

I could have gotten the shutter speed wrong.

18:47

There's no way that we nailed this shot, but I'm just going to go ahead and tell

18:52

myself I'm excited to have tried it because it was fun.

18:57

All right, we're at Indie Film Lab. Garret, Josh.

19:00

Moment of truth. [J] Lets see it.

19:02

[G] Let's check it out. [D] I don't think it's going to work, dude.

19:06

[G] That's the shot.

19:07

[D] Oh, dude.

19:08

It's there.

19:10

I can see it.

19:11

I can see it.

19:13

[G] That's so cool.

19:14

[D] Oh, man.

19:16

[G] Yeah, that's going to be cool.

19:17

[D] It's going to work.

19:18

[J] I love it.

19:20

[D] Oh, man.

19:21

Okay.

19:23

That's so cool.

19:26

Watching Garret and Josh put this slide

19:28

film into the Noritsu scanner was legitimately terrifying because I knew we

19:34

were about to figure out if it was in focus.

19:36

Were the exposures the correct color?

19:38

All the stuff.

19:39

We were about to figure this out. That's so cool.

19:43

Dude, that looks crazy.

19:46

That is so cool.

19:48

So is it scanning it now?

19:50

[G] Yeah, it's scanning it now.

19:51

I just did a quick adjustments to it.

20:15

[D] I really like Indie Film Lab,

20:16

and I love the fact that they're doing stuff here in Montgomery, Alabama.

20:19

If you want your film scanned, send it to indiefilm.com.

20:23

These folks are awesome.

20:25

Josh even took the print, cropped it for me,

20:27

and made a printout because we know that there's one person in this world

20:32

whose mind will be blown by this image, and we've got to go show it to him.

20:36

[T] Is that it? [D] Which one?

20:38

[T] That one?

20:40

[D] Look at it.

20:42

[T] Are you kidding me?

20:49

How come it's...

20:51

That's unbelievable. Is that it?

20:53

That's it. That's the one we did?

20:55

[D] That's it.

20:56

[T] Nobody has done that for years.

20:58

[D] Look at it, though. Look really,

21:01

can you see really close?

21:02

[T] Well, my eyesight is terrible.

21:05

I need to get a magnifier.

21:07

[D] Okay, go for it.

21:09

[T] That's amazing.

21:18

That's amazing.

21:19

[D] I know, right?

21:20

[T] This is the best one film sequence that I've ever seen.

21:27

[D] Yeah? [T] I'm serious.

21:28

The other ones I've seen, and I can't find them again,

21:31

they only took maybe four partials on each side, and they had them spread out a lot.

21:40

Doing 10 in a row, and nailing it is unbelievable.

21:47

[D] I didn't think we would get it, man.

21:49

I'm going to level with you.

21:50

I did not think we were going to get it. [T] Oh, no.

21:52

I knew we could do it.

21:54

This is the way they used to do it. [D] So check this out.

21:56

Open that up.

21:57

Yeah, right?

21:58

[T] I I'm telling you, I don't know the last time that that was done.

22:03

I know, right? It's got to be 30 years ago.

22:06

[D] It was pretty fun, right?

22:08

[T] Wow.

22:12

[D] I didn't think we'd do that good.

22:15

[T] You already printed it.

22:18

You, wild man.

22:19

You've been keeping me in suspense.

22:22

[D] I did it today.

22:24

The Indie Film Lab did it for us.

22:26

Josh at Indy Film Lab printed it. [T] Wow.

22:28

I've always thought that interested people are interesting.

22:31

I heard that somewhere, and I totally believe it to be true.

22:34

Dr.

22:35

Telepun is not only a good friend, but he's an interesting character in this

22:39

whole total solar eclipse thing for my life.

22:41

It was a blast to be able to watch this with him and my family.

22:45

It was great.

22:45

I hope you enjoyed coming along for the ride.

22:48

Also, I'm just grateful that you're here.

22:50

If you want to consider subscribing to Smarter Every Day, that'd be awesome.

22:54

If not, no big deal.

22:55

I'm just glad that you're here. That's it.

22:57

I'm Destin. You're getting Smarter Every Day.

22:59

Have a good one. Bye.

23:01

If you support Smarter Every Day at Patreon, first of all, you're awesome.

23:04

Thank you.

23:05

Secondly, be on the look out for a post about this image.

23:09

It took me a while to get the lighting set up here because it's so glossy.

23:12

But yeah, I want to share this with you.

23:14

You help make it happen, and I'm grateful.

23:17

So patreon.com/smartereveryday.

23:19

I want to show you guys the picture.

23:22

Oh, wow.

23:23

That's so cool. Wow.

23:26

That's really cool.

23:27

You guys took this as well.

23:30

Okay.

23:31

It's a group effort. Thank you.

23:32

Thank you very much for this. I'm grateful.

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