Saw all the Resurs Objects
Ron Lee (ronlee@pcisys.net)
Thu, 16 Jul 1998 23:40:29 -0600
My first attempt to see the six objects only netted three. At that
time the last had not been deployed. Tonight I saw all six plus the
rocket body. As others have mentioned, it seemed steady in the south
but wa flashing after it passed the west. I timed 20 flashes for a
period of 7.23 seconds. The minima, which was invisible in 7x50 binocs,
seemed to become longer as it progressed northward.
When I came back in to check my tape recorder comments against the Skymap
plot, I noticed that object #25394 was faint, while #25396 was bright.
My previous obs had #25394 (Resurs) as being bright. I wonder if the
objects were somehow switched or perhaps it was a vagary of the viewing
conditions.
Local time was 2315-18 for the six payloads (515-518 UT on 17 Jul 98).
Elsets used are below:
SL-16 R/B
1 25400U 98043G 98196.23672164 .00000643 00000-0 27918-3 0 61
2 25400 98.7910 266.2670 0009955 336.1472 23.9858 14.24200918 703
SAFIR-2
1 25399U 98043F 98196.66481346 .00002874 00000-0 12888-2 0 174
2 25399 98.7957 266.6912 0001582 273.0939 87.0668 14.22512355 1079
WESTPAC
1 25398U 98043E 98196.24358499 .00000000 00000-0 00000+0 0 156
2 25398 98.7919 266.2590 0000605 314.1240 46.0501 14.22180651 767
TECHSAT-1B
1 25397U 98043D 98196.17248729 -.00000045 +00000-0 +00000-0 0 00242
2 25397 098.7962 266.1879 0001732 313.8775 046.2259 14.22454730000735
TMSAT
1 25396U 98043C 98196.17280715 .00000366 00000-0 16468-3 0 111
2 25396 98.7938 266.1892 0000656 289.8914 70.2807 14.22355681 745
FASAT-B
1 25395U 98043B 98196.24346506 -.00000045 00000-0 00000+0 0 137
2 25395 98.7945 266.2609 0001986 332.0850 28.0834 14.22255844 725
RESURS 01-N4
1 25394U 98043A 98196.52446693 .00000000 00000-0 00000+0 0 191
2 25394 98.7973 266.5458 0003398 210.9830 149.1759 14.22388309 691
Ron Lee
PS. Used an 8" for the six objects. Craig did well to see them in
a 4.5". At least one was quite dim for my telescope.