Two sightings
Steinar Midtskogen (steinarm@ifi.uio.no)
21 Oct 1998 21:53:58 +0200
Hello.
I'm mostly an occasional satellite gazer, that is, I notice something
in the sky, I stop to watch it and forget about it when they vanish.
However, two observations still keep me curious, because they seem
unusual, at least to me. Perhaps someone here can tell more of
observations of these kinds?
1. Late August this year I spotted (in Oslo, Norway) something that
moved like a satellite, but it was brighter than any other that I've
seen, apart from Iridium flares. The brightness, about mag -3, did
not change for the 15 seconds or so of visibility before it vanished
behind a tall building. It was twilight, sun elevation perhaps 5-6
degrees below. What kind of objects shine like this?
2. I once happened to spot three satellites simultaniously which at
one point passed just a very few degrees apart of eachother. I made a
note of the observation and tried to find out what I saw and how close
they were, now lost, however - I can remember that it was about one
week before Christmas 1996 from 78.2N15.4E - but I never found out
what they were; the program that I used insisted that it had to be
either morning or evening and it greatly confused it that the sun
elevation at noon was -12 degrees, so it was of no use. Are such
"constellations" rare?
In general, satellites seem to be a more common sight in the sky the
farther north I am. How much truth is it in this?
--
Steinar