Richard Baldridge wrote: > There are quite a few satellites in retrograde orbits. Most are quite > faint and are not easy naked-eye targets typically. A whole series of > OV1 satellites launched in 1965/66 are in orbit with inclinations of 144 > degrees, meaning they reach 36 degrees north and south of the equator, > about the mid-latitude of the US (and almost straight overhead passes > for my site in San Jose, California) where they appear to travel exactly > East to West when near the "top" of their sine-curve. > That pretty much fits in with what I saw that evening ... I was (as I remember) just west of Wichita, KS -- toward Ohio ... and the thing was almost due westery heading... are there any retrograde sats up now that came be seen from a fairly light polluted location with binocs....? >