NOAA 11 flare +0; SPOT 3, 12 1x flashes - twice

Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Sat, 10 Jul 1999 01:37:55 -0500

About 3:09:45 UTC on 9 July (Thursday night local time),
I was trying to find Cosmos 1470 when I happened to see
a very bright one-power flare, about +0 magnitude, to 
the "left" (north) of Vega (alpha Lyra), going north.
It lasted at least a couple of seconds if not three or
four, and I may not have seen the beginning.  Later I 
identified this one as NOAA 11 (19531, 88-89A).

Recently SPOT 3 (22823, 93-61A) has made two near-zenith
passes here during which, on both occasions, I've been 
able to observe it display twelve easy one-power flashes 
in a row as it moved off to the north.  These passes 
were, if my records are correct, 4 and 10 July UTC.

It's really great to see these things, especially since 
we are still having quite a few nights, more than usual,
hampered in one way or another by clouds.

Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA