Hi Folks After Ted's alert of possible water dumps from STS-107, I made an extra effort to observe it last night since I had a 42° elevation pass predicted for my site, just over 20 minutes after the end time of the scheduled dump. Unfortunately, I saw no sign of a water dump, not even in binoculars. I also alerted a few friends, some living up country who had visibility of the previous orbit when the scheduled water dump was in progress. I'm still waiting for the latter's reply but all others were negative as well. Conclusion: - The dump was not done to schedule - could the air conditioning problems they experience at present have anything to do with this? - The ice sublimates quicker than we thought - someone here suggested it lasting several orbits? The night before (Tuesday, 21 Jan) I had a 70° elevation pass which was quite spectacular to watch. The Shuttle appeared slightly reddish, comparing well to Betelgeuse and Saturn in colour and brightness. What was remarkable was how "blood"-red it became (naked eye) when going into shadow just after culmination, the reddest I've ever seen a satellite become! No cargo-bay lights were seen. With last night's pass, the satellite appeared much more white and perhaps more bright (but since I was using binoculars at times, I'm not to sure about the brightness). Both nights were basically cloudless with perhaps a hint of cirrus last night. Well, I still have relatively good passes predicted every night (at the same time!) till the end of the month, so I'll keep watching and alert you if I see anything. Although I cannot beat Scott's 40° "comet", my 25° observation back in 1998 still ranks as one of my most unforgettable satellite observations ever! http://satobs.org/seesat/Dec-1998/0190.html Clear skies Willie Willie Koorts Cape Town, Observatory 33d 56' 03"S 18d 28' 36"E GMT + 2h Wellington, South Africa 33d 38' 56"S 19d 00' 52"E GMT + 2h For - Amateur Astronomy - Telescope Making - Satellite Tracking - Visit .... http://www.saao.ac.za/~wpk/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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