Re: Cosmos 1220
Bjoern Gimle (bjorn@tt-tech.se)
Wed, 11 Feb 1998 11:36:25 +0100
>For the last two nights I have observed the cosmos 1220 satellite (#12054).
This an old EORSAT which was blown into space instead of commanded to
de-orbit. Its current representative is #24670 Cosmos 2335 1996-69A.
They are bright and steady - I've never seen a faint pass.
>In my satspy program the estimated magnitude was around 3.5, so when I
>witnessed my first observation I was very much surprised at a nearly 0.5
>magnitude pass. This is a very bright satellite.
>
SkyMap predicts 3.8 near Betelgeuze, using a satmag.dat value of 4.9,
(4.2 for 24670) or a molczan.tle value of 4.9
Quicksat.mag has 2.5 for 12054, 2.0-3.5 for the entire historic population.
These are typical/maximum magnitudes at 90 deg/full phase and 1000 km, resp.
>I checked up on Jay Respler's list of "Some Brighter Satellites" and seen it
>listed at the bottom of the list at mag 4.9.
>
Use a program with a magnitude filter, that is controlled by a file
(that can be) updated to match reality, not a program using values
in the molczan.tle name lines, or a list that is only used manually.
(SkyMap and QuickSat, to my knowledge)
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