Hi, I observed Rosetta visually with a 12-inch reflector during its last flyby in March 2005. Here's an excerpt from my post at the time at http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Mar-2005/0046.html "I just observed my first interplanetary spacecraft, Rosetta, from 0840 to 0925 UT March 4. It was magnitude 11.4 in the 12.5-inch reflector, about 1 magnitude brighter than the predictions posted on the ESA web site. Its motion was easy to perceive, especially when the spacecraft made a rapidly changing equilateral triangle with two similarly bright stars. Here's the specs from NASA's JPL Horizons site: HORIZONS Generated Ephemeris Target Body: Rosetta (Spacecraft) Observer Location: 105°24'00.0''W, 39°24'00.0''N, 2730 m Date__(UT)__HR:MN R.A.__(a-apparent)__DEC Azi_(a-appr)_Elev delta S-O-T /r 2005-Mar-04 09:00 10 49 39.87 +04 03 35.9 224.5871 45.7606 0.0015076613 176.4458 /T The nearly fully lit Rosetta at 0.0015 AU was mag. 11.4. On the morning of Nov. 13 it will be similarly placed in the sky, but almost twice as far away, so I'm expecting it to be about magnitude 12.5 to 13 at the time. cheers, Rich ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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