Observations 09 June 2003:
----------------------------
Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System), 1004x low
light level CCD surveillance camera #2 (0.003 lux) with 200mm focal
length f/3.5 lens with focal reducer which changes focal length
to about 150mm operating at f/2.6.
Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude 33.94058 deg S,
Elevation 10 metres - situated in Pinelands (Cape Town), South Africa
25724 99 023A 0433 G 20030609161434100 17 15 1053551-020021 39 V+076 05
25724 99 023A 0433 G 20030609161607800 17 15 1116272-042242 39 V+068 05
25724 99 023A 0433 G 20030609161840200 17 15 1152062-074605 39 V+076 05
25724 99 023A 0433 G 20030609161906000 17 15 1158003-081646 39 V+025 05
11389 79 050A 0433 G 20030609170550100 17 15 1643054-773100 39 V+073 05
11389 79 050A 0433 G 20030609170630900 17 15 1403194-722242 39 V+071 05
11389 79 050A 0433 G 20030609170651600 17 15 1311014-664324 39 V+059 05
11720 80 019A 0433 G 20030609171718100 17 15 1736092-492019 39 S+077 05
11720 80 019A 0433 G 20030609171649600 17 15 1711066-484545 39 S+087 05
23533 95 015A 0433 G 20030609173000400 17 15 1140145+045338 39 V+075 05
23533 95 015A 0433 G 20030609173019800 17 15 1134170+105201 39 V+068 05
23533 95 015A 0433 G 20030609173059000 17 15 1124005+204001 39 V+081 05
25017 97 064A 0433 G 20030609172539900 17 15 0454301-723735 39 S+040 05
25017 97 064A 0433 G 20030609172637700 17 15 0937038-813317 39 S+033 05
25017 97 064A 0433 G 20030609172729400 17 15 1354569-653608 39 S+027 05
25017 97 064A 0433 G 20030609172749000 17 15 1421259-560823 39 S+025 05
23233 94 057A 0433 G 20030609173350100 17 15 1120574-014555 39 S+073 05
23233 94 057A 0433 G 20030609173324000 17 15 1128272-121325 39 S+069 05
23233 94 057A 0433 G 20030609173357000 17 15 1119156+004324 39 S+070 05
07816 75 043A 0433 G 20030609174832700 17 15 1037233-222147 39 V+078 05
07816 75 043A 0433 G 20030609174900700 17 15 1012461-335559 39 V+078 05
07816 75 043A 0433 G 20030609174921100 17 15 0950465-414917 39 V+074 05
07816 75 043A 0433 G 20030609175001600 17 15 0855290-542625 39 V+072 05
11745 80 019G 0433 G 20030609175940300 17 15 1029414+274127 39 S+078 05
11745 80 019G 0433 G 20030609180129900 17 15 1053134+165832 39 S+073 05
11745 80 019G 0433 G 20030609180206100 17 15 1102201+122314 39 V+079 05
18010 87 043F 0433 G 20030609180705900 17 15 1425068+273422 39 V+084 05
18010 87 043F 0433 G 20030609180740900 17 15 1436511+235016 39 V+083 05
18010 87 043F 0433 G 20030609180805000 17 15 1445165+210510 39 V+082 05
18025 87 043H 0433 G 20030609180943000 17 15 1407318+305509 39 V+095 05
18025 87 043H 0433 G 20030609181034200 17 15 1424115+254215 39 V+095 05
13845 83 008F 0433 G 20030609181529100 17 15 0316050-720242 39 V+090 05
25724 99 023A 0433 G 20030609185058000 17 15 0918246-045353 39 V+079 05
25724 99 023A 0433 G 20030609185130900 17 15 0924026-053153 39 V+076 05
25724 99 023A 0433 G 20030609185236900 17 15 0935386-064743 39 V+079 05
25724 99 023A 0433 G 20030609185546800 17 15 1010188-102049 39 V+088 05
90013 03 564A 0433 G 20030609182622100 17 15 1447015+010838 39 S+082 05
90013 03 564A 0433 G 20030609201707300 17 15 1638474-012833 39 S+076 05
11720 80 019A 0433 G 20030609190036100 17 15 0839361-142921 39 V+084 05
11720 80 019A 0433 G 20030609190356500 17 15 0807038-474739 39 V+088 05
11720 80 019A 0433 G 20030609190421800 17 15 0756282-522734 39 V+089 05
17997 87 034A 0433 G 20030609191903000 17 15 1029190-093202 39 V+093 05
17997 87 034A 0433 G 20030609191925800 17 15 1031340-133217 39 V+085 05
17997 87 034A 0433 G 20030609191948900 17 15 1033516-174935 39 V+088 05
20344 89 061D 0433 G 20030609195000900 17 15 0956580-250707 39 V+083 05
20344 89 061D 0433 G 20030609195018300 17 15 0956091-273451 39 V+082 05
Notes:
(1) With the new lens I am finally able to break the magnitude +10 barrier.
With a bright first quarter moon overhead it is possible to see +10.5
magnitude stars and quite easily see satellites occult 10th magnitude
stars. The "disadvantage" of the new lens is the narrower field of
view and some vibration from the tracking motors which will have to
be reduced to allow tracking on a satellite.
(2) I start tracking with the sun at -12 degrees elevation. The sky is still
very bright but on some satellites I could probably track with the sun
somewhat higher - the problem is seeing stars for positional use.
(3) Did a limited search for USA 89 rocket but saw nothing so will have to
resort to a plane scan in order to locate it - this is planned for next
observing run.
(4) The camera used has still to have the BOOST modification done which
gives
an extra 8 or 9 dB gain so hopefully I can go even fainter. This is all
being done with an exposure of 1/50th sec!
(5) Hope I havent mistyped etc ( as I OFTEN do!).
Cheers
Greg
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jun 11 2003 - 13:17:24 EDT