Obs 961226 evening
Leo Barhorst (leobarhorst@pi.net)
Fri, 27 Dec 1996 11:57:01 +0100
65- 65 C 96-12-26 16:54:07.33LB 81.9 0.2 50 1.637 FF, mag 6->inv
Stays a difficult object. According to the RAEtables is Dodecapole 2 a sphere
(dia 0.3 m) with arials of which no lenght is given. Certainly we see the
flashes from the arials as the satellite spins.
78- 18 B 96-12-26 17:22:18 LB 124.2 0.2 40 3.10 FF, mag 6->inv
Nice flashes; can be sharp but often they look like a little patch of light
with one sharp edge.
83- 4 A 96-12-26 17:40 LB almost S, mag 5
84-109 B 96-12-26 17:57:48 LB 130.1 0.5 5 26.0 AA, mag 5->inv
86-100 B 96-12-26 17:06:13 LB 17.8 0.5 6 3.0 AA, mag 5->7
This pass 86-100 B showed in zenith a train of rapid flashes before entering shadow.
Before the period decreased from 78.5 when I picked up the sat (with some hints of
faint secondary maxima) to 10.64, 6.62 and 4.27. The six following periods in the
zenith were: 2.75, 3.04, 2.53, 3.22, 3.37 and 2,86 sec. Rather strange behavior
for this Cosmos 1808 rocket
88- 6 A 96-12-26 18:34:32 LB 135.4 0.2 8 16.92 F'-a-a-F', mag 3(5)->inv
92- 12 B 96-12-26 16:40:25 LB 49.8 0.2 10 4.98 FF, mag 5->inv
92- 30 J 96-12-26 17:48:50.46LB 235.1 0.2 18 13.06 AA, mag 4->inv
Is accelerating, but shows a large synodic effect.
92- 76 B 96-12-26 16:49:33 LB 199.6 1.0 6 33.3 MM, mag 4->inv
As I could only see a small part of the pass I timed 3 flashes: 64.16, 32.37 and
103.03 sec. This leads me to the conclusion that these are in fact 6 periods.
Due to the low pass in the northwest I didn't see the other maxima.
95- 58 B 96-12-26 17:27:11.32LB 153.3 0.2 28 5.47 AA, mag 3->inv
Flashes 14 to 19 in the DRA-obs below are a bit 'shaky' due to the obstruction by
the branches of a tree. I also timed flash 29 and 30 but because the sat was entering
the earthshadow I skipped these (6.23 and 6.02 sec).
96- 71 A 96-12-26 18:52 LB S, mag 5.5
96- 71 B 96-12-26 18:43:45.77LB 247.8 0.2 54 4.589 AA, mag 4->inv
In the DRA-obs below you can see that this sat has no constant flash pattern:
high periods in flash 4, 10, 18, 27, 34, 37, 39, 42 and 48;
low periods in flash 25, 26, 29, 31, 38, 41, 49, 53 and 54.
Some can be explained by a combination of a high and a preceding or following low
period, but not all.
DRA observations
65- 65C 96-12-26 16:52:45.46 LB 52.6333 4.7833 3 50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 0.00 m m m m m m 11.93 14.31 15.42
1 16.55 18.08 m 21.47 22.58 24.22 26.12 27.45 28.46 m
2 31.49 33.28 m m m m m 43.41 44.59 m
3 47.83 49.08 m m m m m m 60.69 63.29
4 65.22 66.50 m m m m m m m 80.07
5 81.87
95- 58B 96-12-26 17:24:38.07 LB 52.6333 4.7833 3 28
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 0.00 5.18 10.83 16.18 20.85 27.18 32.65 37.90 43.04 48.15
1 54.12 59.79 65.15 70.97 77.18 81.97 87.00 92.96 98.03 103.98
2 109.19 114.68 120.27 125.68 131.51 136.43 141.90 147.43 153.25
92- 30J 96-12-26 17:44:55.40 LB 52.6333 4.7833 3 18
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 0.00 12.66 25.18 38.00 50.89 62.15 77.66 89.33 103.41 115.64
1 129.33 142.38 156.10 168.50 181.93 195.66 208.56 221.74 235.06
96- 71B 96-12-26 18:39:37.96 LB 52.6333 4.7833 3 54
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 0.00 4.63 9.01 13.18 18.74 23.26 27.61 32.03 36.31 40.72
1 45.80 50.27 55.15 59.20 63.79 68.12 72.66 77.31 82.75 87.08
2 91.76 96.40 100.85 105.83 110.10 114.19 118.27 124.16 129.13 133.03
3 137.87 141.86 146.61 150.75 156.06 160.18 165.15 170.58 174.57 180.05
4 184.61 188.29 193.51 198.43 203.22 208.05 212.51 217.14 222.53 226.43
5 230.93 235.30 240.02 243.87 247.81
Greetings and clear skies
Leo Barhorst Alkmaar The Netherlands
52.6333 North 4.7833 East 3 m ASL
Member of Seesat-L
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Every day I wonder about the things I see in the (night)sky