Re: SYNCHRONOUS SAT FLASHER DISCOVERED

Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Wed, 19 May 1999 03:56:06 -0500

Jay Respler wrote:

> Here's a nice one.  Mag. normally fainter than 13. It is flashing
> 112 seconds to 6 or brighter.«
>
>    40.281  74.235  129.   JAY RESPLER      1950 11.8 25«
> *** 1999 May 17/18   Mon evening/Tue morning  *** Times are EDT «
> Hrs Min  Azi  El  Mag    Hgt    R  A    Dec  Range«
> #21668 BS 3B   91 60A             M 3.5 ELDY  5 M2    0«
>   1  10  224  33 11.8  22513  13 27.1  -6.1  24118«

Mike McCants and I were able to observe this one for about 48
minutes, using his well-aimed telescope, beginning at about 3:51 
UTC on 19 May.  The satellite was still slowly brightening when 
we called it quits for the night.  Before we stopped observing, 
I was able easily to observe, using my 10x50 binoculars, two 
flashes that were possibly as bright as +4.5.  I got a period 
for it of about 111.60 seconds.  Here's an elset from 
molczan.tle:

Yuri 3B          5.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d
1 21668U 91060A   99133.09982144 -.00000065 +00000-0 +00000-0 0 01793
2 21668 001.7845 017.2117 0004047 324.4712 205.3497 00.98788222031591

This one's drifting to the west a few degrees per day, a bit more
rapidly than Superbird A, I believe.

Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA