Ed Cannon posted: >This is from the newsgroup. The time was 2:30 April 3 >UTC, location central Kentucky, USA: Note: 8:30 PM EST is 1:30 UT, not 2:30. >> Any rocket launches this evening (Wednesday April 2) >> that would have involved a Barium release? Around >> 8:30 PM EST, I noticed a fairly bright cloud-like >> glow in the SE part of the sky. It grew in size over >> the next 15 minutes or so, before dissapating. This >> was observed from central KY. This matches the latest GPS orbital circularization and plane change burn. Elsets from OIG: NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168) 1 27704U 03010A 03092.94427654 .00040531 51103-7 68380-3 0 88 2 27704 39.1224 308.7619 6059732 15.9042 356.9453 4.04448484 83 NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168) 1 27704U 03010A 03093.29785147 -.00000049 00000-0 10000-3 0 104 2 27704 54.9562 312.0791 0069556 140.3165 220.2392 1.99814333 110 Output from "latlong": *** 2003 Apr 3 *** NCAT 27704 NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168) (apogee of the eccentric orbit) U HGT HR MN REVS LAT LONG 189 12494 1 21 1.4 -6.2 -74.9 190 12509 1 22 1.4 -6.4 -74.9 190 12522 1 23 1.5 -6.6 -74.9 190 12536 1 24 1.5 -6.8 -74.9 191 12548 1 25 1.5 -7.0 -74.9 NCAT 27704 NAVSTAR 52 (USA 168) (post-burn circular orbit) U HGT HR MN REVS LAT LONG 187 12504 1 21 0.1 -6.0 -74.9 187 12504 1 22 0.1 -6.5 -74.9 188 12505 1 23 0.1 -6.9 -74.8 188 12506 1 24 0.1 -7.3 -74.8 189 12507 1 25 0.1 -7.7 -74.7 191 12511 1 30 0.1 -9.8 -74.5 The "point of intersection" of the pre-burn eccentric orbit and the post-burn circular orbit seems to be about 1:23 UTC April 3. The "comet" would appear a few minutes after that. The latitude would have been about -7, the longitude would have been about 75 west. Predictions for "Kentucky": *** 2003 Apr 3/4 Thu evening/Fri morning *** Times are UT *** 27704 NAVSTAR 52 U MAG HGT ALT AZI HRS MIN R A DEC RANGE 186 10.7 12507 35 168 1 20 9 9.9 -16.2 13866 191 10.8 12514 30 168 1 30 9 22.2 -21.0 14113 So the prediction is 30 degrees up in the south. Mike McCants ----------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from SeeSat-L, send a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@satobs.org List archived at http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Apr 04 2003 - 12:11:29 EST