A collection of recent posts regarding this idea: >I think it is a great idea to develop a type of reporting system for flaring geosats. They are clearly not the same class >of object as those reported in PPAS reports, but are still spectacular. I agree, especially to foster future observations. >to *predict* when the geosat would flare again and for who That would be excellent, although with these objects it seems to be ok to just look and see, and you'll get results. >These kind of observations have nothing to do with tumbling objects and therefore I do not intend them to add to the PPAS >database Since PPAS means "Photometric Periods of Artificial Satellites" I suppose none of my observations help :O) I plan on continuing to post things - use them as you will. If PPAS is not the right forum, oh well. I'm sure this conversation has occurred many times in the past. >reluctantly add observations of "Steady" objects Well, how do we know what to look for and weed out steady objects if we don't record which are steady? Also, I usually report when a PPAS object (esp. priority 1 or 2) is steady and for how long, so we can see where / when it is inactive. >we should concentrate on really variable objects Satellites that are only bright twice a year may not fit the exact definition, but that could be solved by... >May be we can start another database of geosat flaring observations Sounds great to me >My suggestions to this forum are the reporting of: My example, to try and fit Bram's list below: 99999 8336 20071026 0500 W T 030 +8 B U in group of 4 >- catalog number and/or international designation of (pseudo) geosat >- location of observer (either COSPAR id or observer's initials) >- UT date of observation(s) >- estimated UT of max brightness before immersion (shadow entry) >- estimated UT of max brightness after emersion (shadow exit) >- estimated UT of max brightness when no shadow entry and exit took place. **I would suggest a different line for after emersion to avoid having different sized strings 99999 8336 20071026 0530 W E 030 +4 A U others in group not as bright >(Read max (stellar) magnitude for max brightness. >I assume that those UT's can not be more accurate than about 1 minute. >May be I am too pessimistic.) >- color of the maximum (I used "W" for white) >- used optical equipment (I used "T" for telescope, and "E" for naked eye, could have B for binocs) >- estimated duration of the flare (find a definition for this) **I added stellar mag here, and a flag for before (B) or after (A) shadow, and predicted (P) or unpredicted (U) >- any verbose comment >intersting to report in which way you observed Added the P or U flag, because I did not try predicting which sat, just observed and then figured out which was which. Others, of course, will try it the other way. Other private communications have indicated some interest in reports on these objects. I will wait to finish reporting until this is resolved - or Comet Holmes gets dim... Brad Young TULSA 1 COSPAR 8336 36.1397N, 95.9838W, 205m ASL ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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