Misc Obs
Mir16609@aol.com
Tue, 18 May 1999 22:45:50 EDT
Every so often I need a cloudy night to catch up.
First the flashers:
Don Gardner, JDG, Lat = 39.1796, Long = -76.8419, Alt = 34 m
93- 61 A 99-05-16 02:30:48.5 JDG 122.4 0.5 8 15.3 0->inv F
99- 22 C 99-05-16 02:27:57.9 JDG 23.9 0.5 5 4.8 +3.0->inv M
99- 25 C 99-05-16 01:20:13.5 JDG 32.5 0.5 50 0.65 +4.5->inv F
93- 61 A 99-05-17 02:15:04.4 JDG 87.4 0.5 6 14.6 0->inv F
93- 61 A 99-05-18 01:57:52.2 JDG 75.2 0.5 5 15.0 0->inv F
The Mir has made some nice passes this week. It was -2.5 mag as it passed
under Mars/Spica on 16 May 01:29 UTC and 1.0 as it passed over Mars/Spica
(145az, 32el) on a twilight pass on 18 May 00:49.
Speaking of space stations...
The recent delay of the ISS docking mission by 1 week to 27 May had the
effect of creating some visible passes during the STS-96 mission for the
eastern USA. The bad news is that they are all predawn passes.
Fengyun 1C r (25732) seems to sparkle occasionally to a +4.0 and is flashing
too.
UARS (21701) has also been making some bright passes. Last evening it flared
to a --1.5 mag for about 10 seconds. The center time was 01:23:17 UTC 18
May. Otherwise it was a +2.0 mag.
My favorite fragment, Spot 1 r BJ (17206), made an unusual pass in that it
was 1x at +3.0 mag and the brightness variation were difficult to observe
(75az, 65el; 02:27:30 UTC 18 May). Normally it tumbles at a 3 second period
at +4.0->inv.
Cheers
Don Gardner 39.1796 N, 76.8419 W, 34m ASL
Homepage: http://hometown.aol.com/mir16609/