Stephmon@aol.com said: >First, the best match for time and path (the star plot shows it actually >passing -through- the bowl of the big dipper). Alldat doesn't include a mean >magnitude, but a mag 0 pass would require an extremely fortunate 'flare' >geometry, or a mean magnitude of roughly +0.7 (I think we would all be >familiar with it, if this were the case). Is anyone familiar with this object? > >UTC Sat Name Sat # Elev. Azimuth Height >02:25:05 90081CD 20971 20° 161° [S] 830 >02:28:55 90081CD 20971 81° 073° [E] 827 >02:32:45 90081CD 20971 20° 350° [N] 824 1990 81A was a Chinese weather satellite. CD would imply that some kind of orbital breakup occurred, probably with the booster's final stage - but I'm just guessing (could have been the satellite). So it's highly doubtful that any of the pieces are large enough to produce bright flares. >The next two pass through the handle, very near the bowl (between delta and >epsilon Ursa Major). Calculated magnitudes are 4.8 for Iridium 59 and 5.4 for >DMSP B4D2-7. Iridium 59 should have been far from a favorable flare geometry, >but if it has strayed from its ideal antenna orientation, a flare might be >possible. > >UTC Sat Name Sat # Elev. Azimuth Height >02:26:35 Iridium 59 25275 20° 175° [S] 775 >02:30:15 Iridium 59 25275 79° 087° [E] 775 >02:33:56 Iridium 59 25275 20° 006° [N] 775 Based on what's been posted I would bet on Iridium 59 being the best candidate, even though it wasn't predicted to flare at that particular moment. Philip Chien, KC4YER Earth News world (in)famous writer, science fiction fan, ham radio operator, all-around nice guy, etc.