For the first time in months, I had an opportunity to observe earth orbiting satellites! 25-12-2000: 10:49:17 - Saw the Cosmos 1116 Rocket. Bright, glorious, naked-eye pass. 10:59:37 - Saw the aged Cosmos 100 satellite in a brilliant overhead pass. 11:19:12 - Saw the Spot 2 Rocket, magnitude +4. It was quite faint in my 7x35's at >85d elevation, because the morning stars were starting to say goodbye to morning twilight. It was amazing how fast twilight came upon me. I went inside to thaw out (temperatures were at about -13C, with considerable wind) from dark skies, and five minutes later when I went back out, there was considerable blueness in the skies, and my limiting magnitude went down from +3 to +2. Thus, this satellite was not that easily seen. I was able to see these satellites by using a new system that I like very much. I highlighted the data from the predictions page at heavens-above.com, and copied it to the TI-86 program editor. I then downloaded the data to my calculator. It saved paper and ink, took less time than to print it, and was really fun to use. No more fumbling with papers and pencils! On a somewhat off-topic note, does anyone have any low-cost anti-glare filters for a 17" monitor? Ever since I finished school a couple of weeks ago, it has been quite painful to use the computer. I was using the computer heavily as school ended (like 8-12 hours a day, up from about 2-3 hours a day). Now, whenever I look at a mostly bright-white computer screen - it kills my eyes. It's painful. Has this happened to anyone else before - will it go away? So I remembered an anti-glare filter on a monitor I see at a local library, how it GREATLY reduced the murderous glare. Unfortunately, filters for my monitor size are in the triple-digits in dollars, and I certainly don't have that much money. I would be ENORMOUSLY appreciative of anyone who can get one cheaper for me, or if anyone has a used one (all I care is that it still fulfills its purpose, I don't care what it looks like). Thank you very much!! Merry Christmas to you all! ------------------------------ Jonathan T. Wojack tlj18@juno.com 39.706d N 75.683d W ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 25 2000 - 11:48:06 PST