NOSS 2-2; 90-78B; "NOSS 16"?
Ed Cannon (edcannonutaustin@netscape.net)
1 Aug 99 05:02:13 CDT
Early on 31 July Mike McCants, Sue Worden, and I
observed the NOSS 2-2 trio or triplets or whatever
they're called (91-76C, D, E; 21799, 21808, 21809),
and then early on 1 August Sue and I observed them
again on a near-zenith pass. The main thing that I
wanted to report is that the "trailer" appeared to me
to be sort of "out of place" -- possibly following
somewhat too far behind and maybe off to one side.
I certainly don't know for sure, but the triangle did
look somewhat different to me than the three latest
trios (2-1, 2-2, and 2-3) usually have to me.
Early on August 1 Sue observed 90-78B (20775, Cosmos
2098 Rk) tumble, and I was able to find it also and
observe two maxima of approximately +4.5 to +5.0,
between which it was not visible in binoculars.
Neither of us was expecting it to be tumbling. My
rough estimate is that the time between the two maxima
that I observed was about 30 to 40 seconds, which in
looking it up in the PPAS records seems to be fairly
consistent with obs in the last several months or year
or so.
Question: I happened to see 25744 (99-28A, formerly
99099), which has come to be called "USA 144" on
Seesat, called "NOSS 16" somewhere, but I don't
remember seeing any such reference on SeeSat and am
wondering about the "NOSS 16" name being applied to it.
Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA
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