I observed Astro (07006A / 30772) in formation with Nextsat (07006C / 30774), on 2007 May 18 on at 02:30 UTC. 30772 07 006A 2701 G 20070518022939640 17 25 1651473+422115 77 S 30774 07 006C 2701 G 20070518022940020 17 25 1651473+422115 77 S 30772 07 006A 2701 G 20070518023023000 17 25 1733635+263752 18 S 30772 07 006A 2701 G 20070518023100520 17 25 1752821+174998 37 E IOD format: http://www.satobs.org/position/IODformat.html Site 2701: 43.68764 N, 79.39243 W, 230 m I assumed that the lead object was Astro, because it was about 1 mag brighter than the trailing object, and reddish-orange. Pre-launch photos reveal both objects with considerable gold thermal blanket, but in all observations to-date, only Astro has been discernibly reddish. I believe that is due in large part to its greater brightness. I timed them 0.38 s apart passing the same reference stars, at a point where their angular velocity was about 0.55 deg/s, which puts their separation at about 0.21 deg. Range was 663 km; therefore, 0.21 deg was equivalent to approximately 2.4 km linear separation. Considering the difficulty in accurately timing objects is such close proximity, I estimate 50 percent uncertainty in the separation. I may be able to observe them on the next pass. Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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