Orion 3 Rk, yes; Orion 3, no
Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Sat, 08 May 1999 02:34:10 -0500
Friday evening local (8 May UTC) we had predictions for
Orion 3 Rk (25728, 99-24B) to be leading Orion 3 (25727,
99-24A) by only 4 seconds on a not-too-favorable pass low
in the SSW. I was able to see the Delta 3 at one-power,
and Mike McCants tracked it with his telescope or 12x80
finder but did not see any other object trailing or
leading it. I read that they're thinking of/planning on
moving it to a much higher circular orbit, but the most
recent elsets have the two objects in very similar orbits.
Maybe someone to our south got a better look at them...?
Thanks to Philip Chien for providing some very helpful
information about the Delta 3!
Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA