Satellite/Laser again
Bart De Pontieu (BDP@MPE.MPE-GARCHING.MPG.DE)
Fri, 20 Jan 1995 21:50:14 +0100 (CET)
Some more information on 'satellite/laser' observation I reported on
last week (see latest/70).
A short recap :
>On Dec. 29, 1994, between 4h30 and 5h UT, Leo Aerts (from Belgium)
>observed something rather peculiar. Observing place was the Swiss
>Alps (east of Grenoble, close to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne), i.e.
>6.4 degrees east longitude, 45.3 degrees north latitude and height
>about 1600 meter.
Please mark that the time I gave last week was wrong. The observations
were in fact one hour later. They are given correctly in the above
(i.e. between 4h30 and 5h UT)
>It was very cold and very clear, and he was sweeping around with his
>binoculars. Then he noticed a 'satellite' just above Corvus. The object
>was magnitude 1 and moved from south-east to north in the direction
>of Ursa Major.
Positions at a time interval of 15 s were :
RA 12h20m Dec. -10 degrees
RA 13h50m Dec. -3 degrees
RA 15h00m Dec. 13 degrees
RA 16h00m Dec. 26 degrees
The angular velocity of this satellite was high.
>The peculiar thing was that a light beam connected the satellite
>and the southern horizon. The point where the laser beam 'touched' the
>horizon remained the same all during the pass. So, the laser beam
>became longer during the pass.
>The beam was about magnitude 2 and really was similar to a laserbeam.
>The object disappeared in Ursa Major, maybe due to the entry into the
>shadow or due to a high building obscuring it.
I've tried indentifying the satellite, so far with no luck. I've heard that
laser beams are sometimes directed at ERS (91- 50 A), but ERS is not visible
at the time. From the over 4000 objects I've predicted none match the orbit,
magnitude *and* angular velocity. It seems to me the object is probably a
payload (laser beam directed at it?), in a low or very eccentric orbit
(angular velocity is more than 1 degrees/second ?). I don't know of any
geodetic satellites in such low orbits, which leads me to speculate it was
a military satellite in a low orbit. But the site which directed the beam
at the satellite was in France, which doesn't have any active low-orbit
military satellites ? (correct me if I'm wrong here). Or maybe the French
army is collaborating with the US?
Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.
Cheers,
Bart