Re: An (old) curious observation

John Stone (jstone@dialnet.net)
Thu, 15 Oct 1998 18:35:42 -0500

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....?

>