Hi Geoff and List, > Sean O'Brien of the planetarium suggested that I contact you > regarding an optical flash that I observed just off the NW limb > of the Moon at 00:28:56 Dec 03 2000 UTC. > I was monitoring lunar Earthsine from Alexandria, VA, when to > my suprise I picked up a flash in the telescope (recorded on video) > It lasted over a second and ramped up, peaked, and then down in > brightness. As I have yet to detect any movement ... I was > wondering whether it could be sun-glint from a geostationary > satellite or some satellite in some really elliptical orbit. I'd say there's a very good chance that this was Raduga 16 (#15946, 85070A). I don't think Raduga 16 has been reported as a flasher, but there are many other in the Raduga series that ARE good flashers, so I'd say the probability is high. It was in the right place at the right time. People should definitely monitor this satellite and get a flash period. It is currently well-positioned for the entire United States, with the central and western U.S. favored. --Rob ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Dec 04 2000 - 13:17:24 PST