Iridiums, according to 97-09 SSR
Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Tue, 21 Oct 1997 02:48:38 -0400
Below are the Iridium listings from the Sept. 1997 Sat. Sit. Report
(in Mike McCants' one-line format). These seem to agree with those
in Walter Nissen's "Appendix 1" (i.e., Molczan, McCants, and Pickup)
except for the two PRC objects that really are not Iridiums.
We're supposed to have a potential "whopper" *flare* Tuesday evening.
I hope the weather will cooperate.
(*Not that it matters very much, but maybe this glint vs. flare thing
is a dialectical difference between the Queen's English and American
-- or just the particular American dialect I learned, but "glint"
seems to me *not at all* to apply to what the Iridiums do. They way
I learned the meaning of the word, "glint" means a brief, unremarkable
flash of unvarying brightness. That is *not* what the Iridiums do.
The reflections from their antennae have extended duration [up to
more than 30 seconds of one-power visibility], and they increase in
brightness to the maximum and then decrease. Those phenomena are
well-described by the word "flare" -- as I understand it.)
Thank yous to those who pointed me to programs to help with the PPAS
report format. I'll check them out. I confess I was exasperated
when I wrote that complaint....
FWIW, Thursday evening (about 1:17:32 Friday UTC) in San Antonio I
observed Cosmos 2221 (22236, 92-80A) flash, only once, to at least
mag. zero. The location was about 29.400N, 98.640W, 180m.
Ed Cannon
ecannon@mail.utexas.edu
Austin, Texas, USA -- 30.3086N, 97.7279W, 165m
>From September 1997 Satellite Situation Report (McCants' format):
Cat Design Name Country Launch Decay/Per Incl RCS
24792 97-020A IRIDIUM 8 IRID 05/05/97 100.4 86.4 15.3
24793 97-020B IRIDIUM 7 IRID 05/05/97 100.4 86.4 6.0
24794 97-020C IRIDIUM 6 IRID 05/05/97 100.4 86.4 15.0
24795 97-020D IRIDIUM 5 IRID 05/05/97 100.4 86.4 25.4
24796 97-020E IRIDIUM 4 IRID 05/05/97 100.4 86.4 5.6
24836 97-030A IRIDIUM 14 IRID 06/18/97 100.4 86.4 21.7
24837 97-030B IRIDIUM 12 IRID 06/18/97 100.4 86.4 60.9
24838 97-030C IRIDIUM 10 IRID 06/18/97 100.4 86.4 51.0
24839 97-030D IRIDIUM 9 IRID 06/18/97 100.4 86.4 24.5
24840 97-030E IRIDIUM 13 IRID 06/18/97 100.4 86.4 6.9
24841 97-030F IRIDIUM 16 IRID 06/18/97 100.4 86.4 7.1
24842 97-030G IRIDIUM 11 IRID 06/18/97 100.1 86.4 21.3
24869 97-034A IRIDIUM 15 IRID 07/09/97 100.4 86.4 28.2
24870 97-034B IRIDIUM 17 IRID 07/09/97 100.4 86.4 22.2
24871 97-034C IRIDIUM 18 IRID 07/09/97 100.4 86.4 12.7
24872 97-034D IRIDIUM 20 IRID 07/09/97 100.4 86.4 13.5
24873 97-034E IRIDIUM 21 IRID 07/09/97 97.4 86.4 8.1
24903 97-043A IRIDIUM 26 IRID 08/21/97 100.4 86.4 5.8
24904 97-043B IRIDIUM 25 IRID 08/21/97 100.4 86.4 3.5
24905 97-043C IRIDIUM 24 IRID 08/21/97 100.4 86.4 3.1
24906 97-043D IRIDIUM 23 IRID 08/21/97 100.4 86.4 3.3
24907 97-043E IRIDIUM 22 IRID 08/21/97 100.4 86.4 2.1
24925 97-048A DUMMY MASS 1 PRC 08/31/97 97.3 86.3
24926 97-048B DUMMY MASS 2 PRC 08/31/97 97.3 86.3
24944 97-051A IRIDIUM 29 IRID 09/13/97 100.4 86.4
24945 97-051B IRIDIUM 32 IRID 09/13/97 99.0 86.5
24946 97-051C IRIDIUM 33 IRID 09/13/97 100.2 86.4
24947 97-051D IRIDIUM 27 IRID 09/13/97 95.7 86.6
24948 97-051E IRIDIUM 28 IRID 09/13/97 100.3 86.4
24949 97-051F IRIDIUM 30 IRID 09/13/97 100.0 86.4
24950 97-051G IRIDIUM 31 IRID 09/13/97 99.3 86.4
24965 97-056A IRIDIUM 19 IRID 09/26/97 95.6 86.7
24966 97-056B IRIDIUM 37 IRID 09/26/97 95.6 86.7
24967 97-056C IRIDIUM 36 IRID 09/26/97 95.6 86.7
24968 97-056D IRIDIUM 35 IRID 09/26/97 95.6 86.7
24969 97-056E IRIDIUM 34 IRID 09/26/97 95.6 86.7