Optical 03 Dec 2008 Part 2

From: Greg Roberts (grr@telkomsa.net)
Date: Thu Dec 04 2008 - 15:28:07 UTC

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    Observations  03 Dec 2008 Part 2
    ----------------------------------------
    
    Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System).
    Camera mount now carries two systems that can be operated
    together as two totally different sytems and computers used.
    Generally the DSI Pro II camera will be used for high altitude
    slow moving objects. Tests seem to indicate that its sesnitivity
    is comparable to the MINTRON ( possibly better) but as its not
    possible (?) to time stamp to better than 1 second accuracy the
    time resolution is not good enough for LEO objects.
    
    (1) MINTRON low light level CCD surveillance camera (0.005
    lux typical in non integration mode) and 0.00005 lux in STARLIGHT
    mode with 128 frame integration.
    Used with 50mm focal length f/1.8 lens,integrating for 128 fields
    which is equivalent to a max exposure of 2.56 seconds maximum
    per image. Field of view 6.8 x 5.4 degrees.
    Individual frames are video time stamped with GPS derived signal.
    
    (2)Meade DSI Pro II Monochrome CCD camera without filters.
    using integration times of 20 sec min to 60 seconds maximum
    depending on brightness of sky in particular area.No image
    processing done but dark field applied.
    Used with 200mm focal length f/2.8 Nikkon telephoto lens,
    field of view 1.88 x 1.40 degrees. Can get to magnitude 13
    or so in less than 20 seconds exposure.
    Exposure time to nearest second inserted into image FITS header
    from PC clock which is automatically checked every minute against
    GPS signal.
    
    Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude  33.94058 deg S,
    Elevation 10 metres-situated in Pinelands (Cape Town),South Africa
    
    For CLASSFD.TLE:
    ----------------------------
    32287 07 054A   0433 G 20081203202931000 56 15 0207519+081206 39  +090 05
    32287 07 054A   0433 G 20081203203158000 56 15 0210197+081108 39  +090 05
    32287 07 054A   0433 G 20081203204941000 56 15 0228062+080111 39  +085 05
    32287 07 054A   0433 G 20081203212323000 56 15 0301541+074020 39  +115 05
    32287 07 054A   0433 G 20081203212700000 56 15 0305278+073747 39  +115 05
    96020 96 520A   0433 G 20081203204941000 56 15 0232279+083319 39  +120 05
    96020 96 520A   0433 G 20081203204234000 56 15 0223526+082946 39  +120 05
    25336 98 029A   0433 G 20081203182617000 56 15 0229054+084724 39  +080 05
    25336 98 029A   0433 G 20081203183533000 56 15 0238107+090620 39  +080 05
    96038 96 538A   0433 G 20081203185250000 56 15 0341273+172158 39  +120 05
    96038 96 538A   0433 G 20081203191028000 56 15 0359302+172732 39  +120 05
    96038 96 538A   0433 G 20081203191510000 56 15 0404188+172804 39  +120 05
    11397 79 053A   0433 G 20081203185517000 56 15 0346023+180045 39  +120 05
    11397 79 053A   0433 G 20081203190628000 56 15 0357178+182836 39  +115 05
    18583 87 097A   0433 G 20081203193200000 56 15 0440340+120001 39  +120 05
    18583 87 097A   0433 G 20081203193642000 56 15 0445113+121259 39  +120 05
    05204 71 039A   0433 G 20081203194158000 56 15 0529599+152151 39  +120 05
    05204 71 039A   0433 G 20081203194510000 56 15 0533134+151807 39  +120 05
    96059 96 559A   0433 G 20081203200433000 56 15 0010362+160902 39  +110 05
    96059 96 559A   0433 G 20081203200744000 56 15 0014075+162604 39  +110 05
    26880 01 033A   0433 G 20081203201051000 56 15 0604092+061832 39  +110 05
    26880 01 033A   0433 G 20081203201318000 56 15 0606364+062122 39  +110 05
    23223 94 054A   0433 G 20081203201551000 56 15 2302169-001949 39  +110 05
    23223 94 054A   0433 G 20081203201818000 56 15 2304436-001850 39  +110 05
    14675 84 009A   0433 G 20081203202018000 56 15 0120372+090859 39  +095 05
    14675 84 009A   0433 G 20081203202249000 56 15 0123049+091314 39  +095 05
    27168 02 001A   0433 G 20081203205252000 56 15 0350537+061038 39  +070 05
    27168 02 001A   0433 G 20081203205454000 56 15 0352562+061129 39  +070 05
    22787 93 056A   0433 G 20081203205813000 56 15 0348382+062431 39  +100 05
    22787 93 056A   0433 G 20081203210019000 56 15 0350436+062821 39  +100 05
    19976 89 035A   0433 G 20081203210441000 56 15 0447414+102031 39  +105 05
    19976 89 035A   0433 G 20081203210816000 56 15 0450397+102336 39  +105 05
    12339 81 025A   0433 G 20081203213925000 56 15 0447068+195925 39  +120 05
    12339 81 025A   0433 G 20081203214237000 56 15 0450205+200501 39  +120 05
    14930 84 037A   0433 G 20081203214515000 56 15 0236517+121830 39  +115 05
    14930 84 037A   0433 G 20081203214826000 56 15 0239565+123028 39  +115 05
    06691 73 040A   0433 G 20081203215039000 56 15 0023267+134819 39  +115 05
    06691 73 040A   0433 G 20081203215350000 56 15 0026348+135647 39  +115 05
    20929 90 095A   0433 G 20081203215634000 56 15 0049011-002428 39  +075 05
    20929 90 095A   0433 G 20081203215820000 56 15 0050426-001941 39  +075 05
    21805 91 080B   0433 G 20081203221110000 56 15 0005276-022903 39  +135 05
    21805 91 080B   0433 G 20081203221316000 56 15 0007331-022247 39  +130 05
    08482 75 118A   0433 G 20081203222727000 56 15 0530089+205801 39  +120 05
    08482 75 118A   0433 G 20081203222914000 56 15 0531587+205725 39  +080 05
    26635 00 080A   0433 G 20081203223343000 56 15 0230153+051021 39  +105 05
    26635 00 080A   0433 G 20081203223655000 56 15 0233265+051255 39  +105 05
    23967 96 042A   0433 G 20081203223909000 56 15 0143155+041102 39  +110 05
    23967 96 042A   0433 G 20081203224221000 56 15 0146265+041513 39  +110 05
    25501 98 058A   0433 G 20081203224908000 56 15 0150296+050311 39  +120 05
    25501 98 058A   0433 G 20081203225216000 56 15 0153338+050551 39  +080 05
    25967 99 063A   0433 G 20081203230504000 56 15 0912585+071611 39  +120 05
    25967 99 063A   0433 G 20081203230733000 56 15 0915267+071531 39  +120 05
    28117 03 057A   0433 G 20081203230913000 56 15 0911251+061920 39  +125 05
    28117 03 057A   0433 G 20081203231224000 56 15 0914361+061743 39  +125 05
    22988 94 009A   0433 G 20081203231426000 56 15 0104219-005612 39  +105 05
    22988 94 009A   0433 G 20081203231738000 56 15 0107335-005746 39  +105 05
    20253 89 077A   0433 G 20081203232451000 56 15 0255239+054913 39  +120 05
    20253 89 077A   0433 G 20081203232848000 56 15 0259189+055907 39  +120 05
    
    
    Notes:
    ---------
    (1) #96020  mag +12, steady. Easy
    
    (2) #96038  mag +12, steady. Easy
    
    (3) #11397  DSP-F8  variable
    
    (4) #18583  DSP-F13 variable
    
    (5) #96059  mag +11, steady. Easy
    
    (6) #20929  DSP-F15, flashing to mag +7.5, invisible in between.Period
        roughly 100-110 seconds
    
    (7) #21805  DSP-F16  variable, very difficulut-only seen on 2 of 15
        images taken - poor phase angle
    
    (8) #25501  UFO-F9  nice slow flare to mag +8
    
    (9) This concludes all the images taken with the Meade CCD camera.
    
        Still to come are the observtions made with the video system which
        include ATEX, USA 129 and SDS-3F4. I will hopefully report these
        tomorrow as well as all the strays observed.
    
    Cheers
    Greg
    
    
    
    
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