(no subject)
Stephmon@aol.com
Sat, 29 May 1999 02:47:01 EDT
In a message dated 5/29/99 12:49:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
meteors@eclipse.net writes:
> Well, it certainly did not look like an Iridium (in normal configuration).
> It only lasted about 1/2 second, and was below naked eye (LM ~ 4 with
moon)
> visibilty the rest of the time. Also, unlike a normal Iridium, the
> brightness did not ramp up and down smoothly. the end was quite abrupt,
and
> the beginning was rapid, though not as sharp as the cutoff.
>
> Still curious....
>
> Wayne
Note that Iridium 85 has a '?' in the zero line. 85 isn't a 'normal' Iridium
and your observation is consistant with a tumbling Iridium I spotted
unexpectedly last September. I'm not going to declare 85 is a tumbler, but
this may be an interesting object to keep an eye out for.
Here's the abbreviated Satellite Hunting output for Iridium 85 on the night
in question (+/- 15 seconds -- 7 day old TLE).
UTC Name Cospar El Az
Mag
02:33:40 Iridium 85 ? 25529 42° 197° [S] 4.7
02:34:54 Iridium 85 ? 25529 75° 276° [W] 4.0
02:38:48 Iridium 85 ? 25529 10° 360° [N] 6.6
Notice how closely the time, position and Mag all fit your observation. I'd
say it's a fairly safe bet, this is your bird.