Re: Observing satellites from Mexico

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Arturo Pascalin writes:

>        I'm starting an ASQ division for the visual observation of
>        artificial satellites, but I'm relatively new to the subject,
>        that and making new friends over the net are the main reasons
>        for subscribing to this list.

Welcome to SeeSat-L, and thanks for writing your introduction. :-)

>        I will welcome any comments, suggestions or project ideas
>        from anyone on the list.

A fun and useful project would be to measure flash periods of tumbling
satellites. The Belgian Working Group Satellites (BWGS) coordinates an
international network of observers who measure flash periods of over 200 
satellites on a regular basis. The observations are regularly added to a 
growing database of Photometric Periods (PPAS) which contains almost 40000 
measurements of more than 1300 satellites. Feedback of results obtained
from your measurements is guaranteed through the (english language)
bimonthly newsletter 'Flash' of the BWGS. We currently have a project that
concentrates on tumbling rockets of which the rotation is accelerating,
which you will here about on SeeSat-L if you hang around long enough :-)

Many of the BWGS observers are also active members of SeeSat-L. For
more details, check out these URL's:

The PPAS database:
http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~bdp/ppas/ppas5.html

Back issues of Flash:
http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~bdp/flash/flash.html

Observing Program of BWGS:
http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~bdp/sat/programrob.html

The Home Page of the BWGS is at:
http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~bdp/bwgs.html

And to hear more about measuring flash periods of tumbling sats:
http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~bdp/tumble/tumbleintro.html

As Allen Thomson said, we definitely need more observers observing from
latitudes that are different than the European/US ones. Our analysis of 
flash period evolution is hampered by the lack of observations during the
time that satellites are not visible in Europe/northern US.

So it would be great if your new group could contribute flash period
observations. It's certainly a type of observation that doesn't need too
much technical equipment. Binoculars, stopwatch and predictions are all
that is needed. :-)

Contact me if you have questions or remarks.

Cheers,
   Bart De Pontieu <bdp@mpe.mpe-garching.mpg.de>
                   <http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~bdp/seesat/seesatindex.html>

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