We were about to observe 25724 = 99-023a = "Milstar 3, USA 143" when to our surprise it seemed to be undergoing a slow bright flare. At 23:17.8 UTC as it passed beta Aqr it was as bright as that star (visual magnitude +2.9) and by 23:18.4 UTC it reached a maximum brightness like Altair's (V=+0.8). Because of its considerable range (2900 km), it and its flare were nice and slow. The only other time we saw this object (1999 October 12) it was about 7th magnitude. Clear and dark skies! Ed and Darlene Light Lakewood, NJ, USA N 40.1075, W 074.2312 Hgt +24 m (80 ft) ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Nov 17 2001 - 19:12:10 EST