Re: Ident please ?, also SL16,Iridium30
Rainer Kracht (r.kracht@elmshorn.netsurf.de)
Sun, 22 Aug 1999 15:59:28 +2
> On a South to North pass, elevation about 45deg in the West at the
> start. It passed below the head of Draco, passed by theta Draco
> missed gamma Ursa Minor by a very close shave just below, and was by
> then dipping down rapidly close to the right (North) of beta U.Minor
> At this time it either lost illumination or went behind a cloud! The
> sky in the West had high haze and streaky cloud so seeing was not good
> and the moon was up. Brightness was about the same as the peaks of
> SL16, which passed by right on schedule shortly afterwards!
Cosmos 1154 5.0 1.5 0.0 5.4 v 20.4
1 11682U 80008A 99231.09718777 +.00002357 +00000-0 +13186-3 0 00916
2 11682 081.2327 274.2973 0011252 242.8831 117.1252 15.13046380614771
> Whilst we waited I pointed out the stars of Cassiopeia, Cygnus etc. to
> her and shortly before 22:34 I had this :
> Going North to South between gamma and delta Cygnus, then passing
> between eta and beta Cygnus, a very bright flashing 'thing' !! more
> or less overhead.
> "Oh ! what,," I said, as my wife gave a gasp, as this 'thing' slowly
> flashed in and out of sight, getting brighter with each flash. Is it
> an aircraft we said to each other, no noise, no other lights red or
> green. Never seen an aircraft strobe that bright,not underneath it
> and not landing beside us! not bright enough to cause exclamations !
> The flashes became not so bright as it headed for Aquila.
> Humm, I said to her, must be an aircraft because for a satellite to
> flash that bright it cannot be in a high orbit ( my poor little brain
> was doing overtime ! ) and if it isnt in a high orbit it shouldnt be
> illuminated by the sun by now,,,
> with that it vanished ! close by Altair, alpha Aquila, to the South.
> I am not good with magnitude estimates, made worse by the thing
> flashing like that, but it was a lot brighter ( so quick and sharp that
> it could be described as intense, in fact just like a strobe ) than
> Vega, not so bright (perhaps ! ) as the Iridium flare that came along
> shortly, 1 or 1&1/2 minutes, later. Ok, so it was near the zenith in
> darker sky than the Iridium so what shall we say -4 +- a bit ? I
> wish Venus had been about, it could have been comparable, I am not sure.
>
> Again, any guesses please.
>
Iridium 27 tum 4.0 1.8 0.0 6.0 d 7.45
1 24947U 97051D 99231.15263739 +.00005451 +00000-0 +34250-3 0 03826
2 24947 086.6262 115.3182 0004721 173.6886 186.4450 15.09047149105949
Rainer