SpaceX Starlink 3 prelaunch elset, predictions and observations

From: ronlee--- via Seesat-l <seesat-l_at_satobs.org>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 20:27:49 -0700
This is actually the fourth launch of Starlink satellites but the  first
was considered 0.9.

I took the TS Kelso provided element set from the 6 January 2020 (EST) 
launch and updated to the current launch time of 1720 UT on 20 January 
2020 using Adj2line.

The ending values may be off since I could not get a checksum
program to verify it.  It does seem to work ok in Rob Matson's
Skymap.  Better elsets are welcome.  The two provided by Marco
and TS Kelso for the 6 January launch were great.

STARLINK-3 SINGLE SAT     20 Jan 2020 1720 UT
1 72001C 20001B   20020.76496062  .00967871  00000-0  22177-2 0    09
2 72001 053.0046 276.5571 0009525 327.1024 294.0471 15.96209869  11 7

I ran predictions for various cities in the mainland USA and none showed  
great passes in the initial days.  The best so far is central Colorado 
which has a nine degree pass rising around azimuth 327 degrees at 611 PM 
and due north around 614 PM MST just before entering shadow.

Note that I saw the previous set of satellites the morning after launch
before sunrise at a maximum elevation of about four degrees (using
binoculars) so check your own visibility and don't let a low elevation
pass prevent you from trying to see them early on.









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Received on Thu Jan 16 2020 - 21:28:43 UTC

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