NROL-55 sighting (maneuvering)

From: Jon . via Seesat-l <seesat-l_at_satobs.org>
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2015 23:17:26 +0200
Hi All;


A friend mailed me some hours ago with a link to a photo what he defined as
a "more than a flare":

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffdai/21877557609/

The data for the image is:

Coordinates: 29.759189, 91.476115; 4320m a.s.l.

Date/time: 8/10/2015 at 14:17 UTC.


I am not able to identify visually the sky zone cause there are too many
stars.

Introducing the coordinates and time into tracking software I'ts easy to
reach the conclusion that Ted's preliminar orbit estimations and
after-launch calculations passed some minutes earlyer than 14:17 UTC pretty
high in the sky, with about 47º of max. elevation.
So, time is not 100% correct, and its highly likely that this comes from
NROL-55 launch.

My guess is that the image is the Centaur making the first of two final
maneuvers after releasing the NOSS pair to reach the final Centaur and
secondary payload's orbit. Hoewer, I am not 100% sure of it as I've did not
dedicate it too much time to analize the data.

This image is taken roughly 80 minutes after launch.


Thanks to Dani Caxete who advised me.


Jon.


-- 
Jon, COSPAR 6242, 42.9453, -2.82839, 623m, Bitoriano, Basque Country.
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Received on Sat Oct 10 2015 - 16:18:54 UTC

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