Re: NanoSail-D not seen

From: Greg Williams (k4hsm@knology.net)
Date: Sun Jan 23 2011 - 09:32:53 UTC

  • Next message: Russell Eberst: "2011JAN22.OBS"

     From this article:
    http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1101/22nanosail/
    
    NASA is calling upon satellite watchers to track the satellite and  
    take pictures. The best time to view the craft is around dawn and  
    dusk. When the sail is tumbling, it could be visible anywhere in the  
    sky, but once its orientation stabilizes, the best viewing will be  
    when the satellite is close to the horizon, according to NASA.
    
    ----------------
    
    If it's edge-on, or perpendicular to the earth's surface, you won't  
    see it well if at all.
    
    Greg Williams
    gregwilliams@knology.net
    k4hsm@knology.net
    
    
    
    On Jan 22, 2011, at 7:53 PM, Paul Floyd wrote:
    
    > Hi all,
    >
    > I was wondering if it was possible to predict the orientation of
    > NanoSail-D in space? Would it be tumbling in space and therefore there
    > might be a chance of random flares?
    >
    > Regards,
    >
    > Paul Floyd.
    > www.nightskyonline.info
    >
    >
    >
    > On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 6:05 AM, Djlaszlo <djlaszlo@aol.com> wrote:
    >> Thanks for the confirmation.  I've been mulling over your obs and the
    >> dance with twilight this month. It seems likely we are we are  
    >> straining
    >> to see a large but backlit object with these passes.  I don't get  
    >> good
    >> phase angles for sunset passes until February.  I ran Calsky looking
    >> for solar and lunar transits.  No luck in next 2 weeks.  However, the
    >> NanoSail twitter feed mentioned Iridium sats . . .  perhaps someone  
    >> can
    >> catch NanoSail D with a daytime flare.  If the clouds don't roll  
    >> in, I
    >> have a 70 degree pass at sunset Jan 22, worth scanning the track with
    >> eyes and binoculars, who knows?   ;-)    Dan Laszlo, Ft Collins CO  
    >> USA
    >>
    >>
    >> -----Original Message-----
    >> From: Brad Young <allenb_young@yahoo.com>
    >> To: seesat-l@satobs.org
    >> Sent: Fri, Jan 21, 2011 8:05 pm
    >> Subject: Re: NanoSail-D not seen
    >>
    >>
    > _______________________________________________
    > Seesat-l mailing list
    > http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l
    
    _______________________________________________
    Seesat-l mailing list
    http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l
    



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Jan 23 2011 - 09:33:53 UTC