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I took this photo in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, 38°13'N 115°18'E (+38.23, +115.31) on the night of February 8, 2020. Here you can see a round object above the moon, and it was moving fast,the first photo was shot on 19:32:24, and the second was shot on 19:31:46. Can you please tell me what it was? Now that I have checked on SkyView Free, it seemed to be in the location of Pollux, but I don't think it was because it was big and it seemed like a planet which did not glow.

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    $\begingroup$ Would it be possible to add the longitude/latitude of the image or the name of the city/town it was taken from? "Northern China" is a pretty large region, and visibility times of individual satellites is heavily dependent on location. $\endgroup$
    – notovny
    Sep 16, 2020 at 16:35
  • $\begingroup$ Heavens-Above is good for this sort of thing but not more than 3 months in the past. $\endgroup$
    – Mike G
    Sep 16, 2020 at 17:02
  • $\begingroup$ @notovny ,thanks for your message, I have added the longitude/latitude info. $\endgroup$
    – frankchang1990
    Sep 16, 2020 at 17:12
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    $\begingroup$ Given the size of it, it was more likely a balloon than a satellite. By the way, while looking at the first photo in an image editor, trying to adjust the levels to see if any stars were visible (they weren't), I noticed an interesting-looking artefact at coordinates 1168, 392 - 1183, 399. It doesn't look like a usual JPEG artefact, rather some type of QR code. What is it? $\endgroup$
    – Aaron F
    Sep 16, 2020 at 18:23
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    $\begingroup$ @frankchang1990 - Could you see the object from your naked eyes? If so, this completely rules out MikeG's suggestion below. He says that it could be a reflection from the camera lens, but if you could see it through your naked eyes, then the camera won't affect it at all. $\endgroup$
    – Infinity Milestone
    Sep 17, 2020 at 2:21

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As in this question about an image of a partial solar eclipse, the object in question is:

  • round and about half the apparent size of the Moon
  • fainter and slightly bluish
  • directly opposite the Moon relative to the center of the image

I believe it is a reflection of the Moon from coated surfaces in the camera lens.

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for your answer ;-) $\endgroup$
    – frankchang1990
    Sep 17, 2020 at 15:24

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