Paul Floyd asked: > Is anyone able to let me know if Falcon 9 would have been visible from > Eastern Australia this morning. The Falcon 9 test payload, which is attached to the rocket's 2nd stage (10026A / 36595), appears to account for the phenomenon. It exited eclipse (umbra) on Jun 05 at 05:48:06 AM local standard time (Jun 04, 19:48:06 UTC) at azimuth 229 deg, elevation 16 deg; culminated at about 05:49:42, at az 161, el 42; and passed below 10 deg elevation at 05:51:57, at azimuth 86 deg. Angular velocity at culmination was 1.2 deg/s. This is consistent with the approximate time, direction of travel (SW - NE, W - E), and the apparent high speed, reported here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/05/2919095.htm?section=justin This occurred about 65 min after launch, so perhaps the 2nd stage was dumping excess propellant. Similar actions by Centaur stages have always resulted in spectacular cloud-like formations. Ted Molczan _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l
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