Plane/Satellite??

[prassu]

Today evening when I came out of office by around 7:15 pm, I saw a trail of smoke made by a jet. I was watching the line as it was slowly getting thin due to wind. Then all of a sudden I could see a white object crossing the smoke trail at a high altitude compared to the trail. I could notice it due to a shine from the sunlight & since the sky was clear. I am not sure if it is a plane/satellite/ISS. It was not static & moving at a good speed. In the limited knowledge I have about airplanes, i think the max height they travel is 30k feet when it makes the smoke trail. but this object was high above that.

 

[NightAngel79]

they can make the 'trail' higher. also the first jet could have been at 20k and the second, while being higher, wasn't higher than 30k...

just my 2 cents

 

[Vihzel]

UFO. Case solved.

 

[Dark Jedi]

B-52's had a max ceiling of 50,000 ft. This plane was made in the mid 50's all the way to early 60's

 

[jwp1223]

Today evening when I came out of office by around 7:15 pm, I saw a trail of smoke made by a jet. I was watching the line as it was slowly getting thin due to wind. Then all of a sudden I could see a white object crossing the smoke trail at a high altitude compared to the trail. I could notice it due to a shine from the sunlight & since the sky was clear. I am not sure if it is a plane/satellite/ISS. It was not static & moving at a good speed. In the limited knowledge I have about airplanes, i think the max height they travel is 30k feet when it makes the smoke trail. but this object was high above that.

747's can cruise at altitudes above 40,000.

 

[prassu]

Yes.. i think it's a plane. Someday I have to see ISS. I have read in the news sometime that it will be visible to the naked eye on specific dates when it is near to the earth.

 

[prassu]

UFO. Case solved.

I dont think so....If it was a UFO, I would expect it to show some more unique features like random lights/coming down or going up vertically at great speeds. If I had seen even slightest of strange features, I would have run back into my office .I dont want those aliens to pick me up for scientific testing

 

[Tangent]

Those trails aren't smoke, they're water vapor condensing out of the engine exhaust. The reason one plane made a visible trail and another didn't is because of different temperatures and humidity levels at those altitudes. This is also why some contrails dissipate very quickly while some last a very long time, and sometimes you can even watch as the trail is only intermittent as the plane flies through varying conditions. I highly doubt you could see even the ISS during the daytime...

 

[prassu]

Those trails aren't smoke, they're water vapor condensing out of the engine exhaust. The reason one plane made a visible trail and another didn't is because of different temperatures and humidity levels at those altitudes. This is also why some contrails dissipate very quickly while some last a very long time, and sometimes you can even watch as the trail is only intermittent as the plane flies through varying conditions. I highly doubt you could see even the ISS during the daytime...

Yes I dont think ISS can be viewed during day.I think it would be visible in the night as a slightly bigger object than the stars or planets..

 

[prassu]

Maybe ISS will look a little bigger through the telescope.I watched the super moon through my 50 mm telescope.Struggled a lot to get the focus but in the end got a good view of it.

 

[Tangent]

Yes I dont think ISS can be viewed during day.I think it would be visible in the night as a slightly bigger object than the stars or planets..

Yeah, I've seen plenty of satellites when I was in areas with no significant light pollution. They just look like fast moving stars. The ISS just looks brighter than the rest. With a decent telescope you should be able to see some pretty cool detail. Space StationConstruction Visible Through Backyard Telescopes - NASA Science