Observations 25 Apr 2006:
----------------------------
Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System).
MINTRON low light level CCD surveillance camera (0.005 lux typical
in non integration mode) and 0.00005 lux in STARLIGHT mode with 128
frame integration.
For LEO satellites used lens set at 100mm focal length and f/2.8.
For GEO satellites used lens set to 150mm focal length and f/2.8.
Integrating for 96 frames which is equivalent to an exposure of 1.92
seconds.
This French made commercial TV telephoto lens performs reasonably
well but suffers from vignetting when doing long exposures and the
image scale is not uniform across the field of view so consequently
only use reference stars close to the satellite if available.
Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude 33.94058 deg S,
Elevation 10 metres - situated in Pinelands (Cape Town), South Africa
FOR CLASSFD.TLE:
====================
26906 01 040B 0433 G 20060425164204700 56 15 1212521-023017 39 +030 05
26906 01 040B 0433 G 20060425164308400 56 15 1246389-114952 39 +032 05
26906 01 040B 0433 G 20060425164330800 56 15 1258473-145033 39 +035 05
23937 96 029F 0433 G 20060425165931100 56 15 1240150-661329 39 +070 05
23937 96 029F 0433 G 20060425170018300 56 15 1402192-654854 39 +070 05
23937 96 029F 0433 G 20060425170113100 56 15 1510000-631026 39 +075 05
22639 93 026B 0433 G 20060425170811700 56 15 1554028-504107 39 +085 05
22639 93 026B 0433 G 20060425170840200 56 15 1532248-463134 39 +080 05
22639 93 026B 0433 G 20060425170932300 56 15 1501265-375909 39 +080 05
90047 06 521A 0433 G 20060425171429500 56 15 1030561-181752 39 +120 05
90047 06 521A 0433 G 20060425171737200 56 15 1034162-182630 39 +120 05
90047 06 521A 0433 G 20060425184055700 56 15 1341253-180500 39 +092 05
28385 04 034B 0433 G 20060425172028900 56 15 1042095-603622 39 +100 05
28385 04 034B 0433 G 20060425172251800 56 15 1052109-594433 39 +100 05
28385 04 034B 0433 G 20060425172622300 56 15 1106168-582502 39 +095 05
90020 04 539A 0433 G 20060425175357600 56 15 0415454-061551 39 +080 05
90020 04 539A 0433 G 20060425175729400 56 15 0414551-160315 39 +075 05
90020 04 539A 0433 G 20060425180305900 56 15 0400376-385403 39 +070 05
22519 92 086C 0433 G 20060425180421100 56 15 1558526-673459 39 +080 05
22519 92 086C 0433 G 20060425180524600 56 15 1610438-632106 39 +073 05
22519 92 086C 0433 G 20060425180636500 56 15 1621380-581736 39 +075 05
20344 89 061D 0433 G 20060425180823700 56 15 1122216-543235 39 +090 05
20344 89 061D 0433 G 20060425181047900 56 15 1138264-513235 39 +090 05
20344 89 061D 0433 G 20060425181256300 56 15 1151483-484042 39 +088 05
22638 93 026A 0433 G 20060425181502200 56 15 0344259-284522 39 +090 05
23937 96 029F 0433 G 20060425184420600 56 15 0409566-365430 39 +080 05
23937 96 029F 0433 G 20060425184513300 56 15 0353148-444031 39 +080 05
23937 96 029F 0433 G 20060425184604000 56 15 0329412-520306 39 +085 05
90027 96 029F 0433 G 20060425190420100 56 15 0517474-321233 39 +080 05
90027 96 029F 0433 G 20060425190618600 56 15 0610368-270725 39 +075 05
90027 96 029F 0433 G 20060425190817000 56 15 0655485-201242 39 +073 05
90027 96 029F 0433 G 20060425191125000 56 15 0749576-091510 39 +075 05
23947 96 038C 0433 G 20060425192302800 56 15 0556544-181701 39 +120 05
23947 96 038C 0433 G 20060425193706800 56 15 0734301-015654 39 +120 05
90003 99 503A 0433 G 20060425200236200 56 15 1453392+013133 39 +090 05
90003 99 503A 0433 G 20060425213535900 56 15 1623465-033847 39 +090 05
90048 05 605B 0433 G 20060425202455100 56 15 1105427+115613 39 +100 05
25746 99 028C 0433 G 20060425202724100 56 15 2036514-630733 39 +075 05
25746 99 028C 0433 G 20060425202752400 56 15 2036463-612633 39 +070 05
25746 99 028C 0433 G 20060425202822400 56 15 2036471-594104 39 +078 05
90013 03 564A 0433 G 20060425203134300 56 15 1356515+030506 39 +070 05
90035 05 625A 0433 G 20060425203504900 56 15 1510291+051648 39 +085 05
90040 05 683A 0433 G 20060425210914800 56 15 1307172+370324 39 +097 05
90040 05 683A 0433 G 20060425211132100 56 15 1310557+363539 39 +098 05
90040 05 683A 0433 G 20060425211600900 56 15 1317416+354243 39 +099 05
90038 05 638B 0433 G 20060425213322200 56 15 1657463+015253 39 +095 05
90033 05 558A 0433 G 20060425213922900 56 15 1219223+075727 39 +090 05
27168 02 001A 0433 G 20060425214125100 56 15 1203259+044614 39 +080 05
90043 05 835A 0433 G 20060425214313400 56 15 1102455+053139 39 +085 05
90042 05 835A 0433 G 20060425214600800 56 15 1609194+062755 39 +110 05
UNKNOWN SATELLITES:
======================
91061 06 096LEO 0433 G 20060425173538900 56 15 0208262-564313 39 +085 05
91060 06 082GEO 0433 G 20060425202021600 56 15 0857266+095307 39 +105 05
STRAYS SEEN:
===============
Cosmos 2165 rocket
21785 91 077G 0433 G 20060425165931100 56 15 1231442-673021 39 +070 05
CORIOLIS variable
27640 03 001A 0433 G 20060425170456700 56 15 0752530+142838 39 +065 05
START 1
22561 93 014A 0433 G 20060425172036400 56 15 1027350-603827 39 +080 05
JASON 1
26997 01 055A 0433 G 20060425172331200 56 15 1104474-585002 39 +070 05
ESSA 7 rocket variable
03346 68 069B 0433 G 20060425172346200 56 15 1055564-581136 39 +080 05
MOSS 1-A rocket
17528 87 018B 0433 G 20060425172622300 56 15 1056291-592729 39 +055 05
GLOBALSTAR 56
25945 99 058C 0433 G 20060425175357600 56 15 0416279-070035 39 +080 05
COSMOS 1386
13353 82 069A 0433 G 20060425180821700 56 15 1120524-532555 39 +075 05
NOAA 15
25338 98 030A 0433 G 20060425181439600 56 15 0333337-310711 39 +080 05
COSMOS 2088
20720 90 066A 0433 G 20060425182600900 56 15 2147209-780355 39 +070 05
METEOR 2-11
15099 84 072A 0433 G 20060425184458200 56 15 0400042-423537 39 +080 05
COSMOS 1733 rocket
16612 86 018B 0433 G 20060425184503900 56 15 0359359-442711 39 +065 05
INMARSAT 4-F1 very bright geostationary
28628 05 009A 0433 G 20060425191441200 56 15 1407030+023013 39 +075 05
COSMOS 1365
13175 82 043A 0433 G 20060425192306300 56 15 0602088-174540 39 +070 05
IMAGE range 10900 kilometres
26113 00 017A 0433 G 20060425194716000 56 15 1450176-400942 39 +115 05
INTELSAT 904 geostationary
27380 02 007A 0433 G 20060425203504900 56 15 1510429+052004 39 +085 05
SL-12 rocket body (2)
28634 05 010F 0433 G 20060425203504900 56 15 1509165+060723 39 +095 05
EXPRESS AM-2 geostationary
28629 05 010A 0433 G 20060425211759300 56 15 1719264+050419 39 +105 05
28629 05 010A 0433 G 20060425212128800 56 15 1722579+050404 39 +105 05
SL-12 rocket body (2) range 39770 kilometres
28119 03 053E 0433 G 20060425211759300 56 15 1717326+054329 39 +120 05
28119 03 053E 0433 G 20060425212128800 56 15 1721019+054139 39 +120 05
THAICOM 3 geostationary
24768 97 016A 0433 G 20060425211943100 56 15 1714448+050620 39 +110 05
COSMOS 2350 range 40160 kilometres
25315 98 025A 0433 G 20060425212128800 56 15 1726311+050414 39 +110 05
25315 98 025A 0433 G 20060425212317900 56 15 1728175+050124 39 +110 05
GALAXY 11 rocket geostationary
26039 99 071B 0433 G 20060425212832800 56 15 1720074+062831 39 +115 05
NSS703 (Intelsat) geostationary
23305 94 064A 0433 G 20060425214600800 56 15 1608283+052005 39 +110 05
Notes:
---------
(1) Track of #26906 was difficult due to very bright twilight sky.
Whilst the satellite was easy the reference stars were not.
(2) Unknown previously reported as #91061 possibly seen. I used Mike
McCants "guess" at the orbital elements and it appeared about 31
seconds early.
This is a difficult object due to its faintness and variability.It
was relatively easy seen when spotted but in the dark I pressed the
wrong keyboard key and lost the satellite and was unable to see it
again. Unfortunately the DVD recording is not as good as the "real"
time view so I cannot ascertain with certainty the start and end of
the 1.92 second exposure, so there is some uncertainty as to the
exact time and corresponding position. However , in conjunction with
the previous observation of #91061 it may help tie down the orbit a
little better.
I have a higher elevation pass tomorrow night, so provided clear, I
should be able to get a proper track (unless I press the wrong key
again!)
(3) Unknown #91060 is an easy geostationary as it provides a short
trail during the 300 frames integration.
(4) IMAGE (#26113) is a difficult object as its in a highly eccentric
orbit. A previous attempt to see it a long way out failed (the
predicted magnitude was about +13.5 ) but during this session the
satellite was descending from apogee and I managed to see it at a
range of about 10900 kilometres before going into the earths shadow.
As it is necessary for me to integrate the image it is not possible
to determine whether the satellite was varying or not, however when
observing in "real time" I suspected I could see some variability
on a scale of seconds (but this may be due to variations in the
"seeing") but not good enough to determine better.
(5) A short time ago I mentioned the possibility that I might purchase
a commercial GOTO telescope for tracking. However after pricing
several telescopes I decided I was not prepared to spend that kind
of money ( prices in South Africa are 4 to 5 times the price in
the USA so somebody making a BIG profit!!). The outcome of this is
that I am building my own system using a 6 inch f/4.5 mirror I made
about 37 years ago and at the moment am about 50% complete with
building a german equatorial mount controlled by stepper motors.
Using SCOPE, a freeware program written by Mel Bartels, the
telescope will be under computer control and a CCD camera will be
mounted at the telescopes focal point where one normally has a
diagonal to deflect the telecope light beam to an eyepiece mounted
on the side of the telescope tube at the focal plane. This part has
already been completed and tested and should enable me to go fainter
by at least two or three magnitudes than my current limit of about
magnitude +13.
Since SCOPE does not have provision for tracking satellites I can
only use this telescope for high altitude and geostationary
satellites.
(6) Sorry for such a long waffle but I do this in the hopes of being
able to encourage others to try similar - I think I am succeeding
to a small extent :-))
Cheers
Greg
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