And here are Marco Langbroek‘s excellent astro-photography images of ATV-4. Thank you, Marco, for sharing your excellent work!

It was clear, so I had a perfect view of two ATV-4 passes last night, at 01:47 CEST (2 hrs after launch) and 03:20 CEST (3.5 hours after launch). Attached are some photographs I took (from Leiden, the Netherlands) during both passes.

ATV-4 was very bright, magnitude +1 during the first pass and magnitude +0.5 during the second. It was very easily seen by the naked eye, even from the center of Leiden.

ATV-4 seen in orbit shortly after launch 6 June 2013 Copyright & credit: Marco Langbroek https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/

ATV-4 seen in orbit shortly after launch 6 June 2013 Copyright & credit: Marco Langbroek https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/

During the 01:47 CEST pass, which was through the zenith as seen from Leiden, a second fainter (mag. +4) object preceded the ATV. The two were a few degrees separated. I am quite sure this must have been the Ariane upper stage.

ATV-4 seen in orbit shortly after launch 6 June 2013 Copyright & credit: Marco Langbroek https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/

ATV-4 seen in orbit shortly after launch 6 June 2013 Copyright & credit: Marco Langbroek https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/

One of the attached images shows both objects: ATV-4 and what I presume is the Ariane upper stage. The other image from this pass, taken half a minute later, shows ATV-4 with two unrelated objects: an old Soyuz r/b from the Kosmos 1570 launch in 1984, and a US military satellite, NOSS 2-3 E. Nicely illustrates how crowded it is up there!

ATV-4 seen in orbit shortly after launch 6 June 2013 Copyright & credit: Marco Langbroek https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/

ATV-4 seen in orbit shortly after launch 6 June 2013 Copyright & credit: Marco Langbroek https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/

The third photograph was taken during the second pass (03:21 CEST). It is a ‘stack’ of 8 images of 5 seconds each taken in short succession, and it shows ATV-4 descending over the historic Observatory of Leiden.

ATV-4 seen in orbit shortly after launch 6 June 2013 Copyright & credit: Marco Langbroek https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/

ATV-4 seen in orbit shortly after launch 6 June 2013 Copyright & credit: Marco Langbroek https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/

ATV-4 rising, with stars of the Coma Berenices cluster.