Nice night
Jeff Hunt (jhunt@eagle1.eaglenet.com)
Mon, 7 Apr 97 21:06:36
Yes, it was a very nice night for observing (April 7).
First observed Mir in the NW at about 20 deg altitude max, fairly bright for
the low illumination, maybe mag 3.
Below Mir and only several seconds behind at about 10 deg. alt in the NW was
the Progress r/b which I could only see with 7x50 binocs. It was flashing
with about a 1 second period. Minima was invisible, maxima was maybe mag 6.
The below tle was good for observation.
Observed the dim fluorescent Tips (cat.no. 23937) which I haven't seen in a
long time. It was nicely positioned in the SE for high illumination but I
was surprised how dim it was in 7x50 binocs. I couldn't pick it until its
transit was almost half over. Averted vision helps.
Last, but not least, was Progress M-34, very low in the NW, observable only
in the binocs for this pass. Again on time for the below tle.
Progress M-34
1 24757U 97014A 97097.84124819 .00052379 12808-4 71735-4 0 71
2 24757 51.6517 79.5724 0023509 141.5708 218.1225 16.05928625 196
Progress r/b
1 24758U 97014B 97097.52075837 .03480006 12179-4 62925-3 0 102
2 24758 51.6467 81.2267 0018182 83.4258 276.9558 16.31114492 142
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Jeff Hunt, Charlotte Hall, Md. 38.51N, 76.76W
E-mail: jhunt@eagle1.eaglenet.com