Superbird A primary flashes

ROB MATSON (ROBERT.D.MATSON@cpmx.saic.com)
4 Sep 1997 14:55:38 -0800

Fellow Superbird observers,

Thanks to observations by Ron Lee, Mike McCants and Ed Cannon, I've been able
to compute a current primary flash axis for Superbird A (#20040).  The axis is
still crude due to the limited number of observations, but it is already clear
that it has changed inertially since this past spring.  My guess is that the
rotation axis has "coned" a bit in the intervening months.  It'll take more
data and more analysis to determine the nature of this coning...

In the meantime, here are predicted times and locations for the center of the
primary flash window for Thursday night, Sept. 4th, in the U.S. and Canada
(September 5th, Greenwich Time).  All times are UTC on the 5th:

2:55  Santa Barbara, central California (Fresno), Reno
2:55:30  Southern California (L.A., Orange Co.), Mojave
2:56  San Diego; Palm Springs; Barstow; central Nevada
2:57  Yuma, Arizona; Las Vegas; border of Nevada and Utah; central Idaho;
western-most Montana (Missoula); Calgary
2:58  Central Arizona (Phoenix and Flagstaff); central Utah (Salt Lake City);
Idaha/Wyoming border; central Montana (Helena and Great Falls); Edmonton
2:59  Arizona/New Mexico border (Gallup, NM); Utah/Colorada border (Grand
Junction, CO); central Wyoming; east half of Montana (Billings)
3:00  El Paso, TX; Central New Mexico (Albuquerque, Sante Fe); central
Colorado (Boulder, Denver) (Note: Pueblo & Colorado Springs about 3:00:30);
eastern Wyoming (Laramie and Cheyenne); eastern Montana
3:01  Eastern New Mexico (Roswell, Tucumcari); eastern Colorado; western
Nebraska and Dakotas
3:02  Western and northern Texas (Amarillo); Oklahoma panhandle; western
Kansas; central Nebraska and Dakotas
3:03  Western Texas and Oklahoma; central Kansas; eastern Nebraska and Dakotas
3:04  Central Texas (Ft. Worth); central Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)-; Eastern
Kansas; Nebraska/Iowa border (Omaha, Sioux City); central Minnesota
3:05  Southern and Eastern Texas (Laredo, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Dallas);
eastern Oklahoma (Tulsa); Kansas/Missouri border (Kansas City); central Iowa
(Des Moines); Minnesota/Wisconsin border (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
3:06  Houston and eastern-most Texas; western Arkansas; central Missouri;
Iowa/Illinois border; central Wisconsin
3:07  Western Louisiana; eastern Arkansas (Little Rock); southeast Missouri
(St. Louis); central Illinois; southeast Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
3:08  South-central Louisiana; western-most Mississippi and Tennessee
(Memphis); Illinois/Indiana border; Chicago
3:09  New Orleans; southeast Mississippi; western Tennessee and Kentucky;
eastern Indiana; central Michigan
3:10  Mobile, Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama; Chattanooga, Tenn.;
Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo, Ohio; Detroit
3:11  Pensacola, Florida; southeast Alabama; Atlanta; Knoxville, Tenn.;
eastern-most Kentucky; Akron and Cleveland, Ohio; Toronto, Canada
3:12  Tallahassee, Florida; central Georgia; western tips of Carolinas and
Virginia; central West Virginia; Pittsburgh; Buffalo and Rochester, NY
3:13  Elbow of Florida; southeast Georgia; central Carolinas, Virginia and
Pennsylvania; Syracuse, NY; Ottawa, Canada
3:14  Tampa,St. Petersburg, Gainesville and Jacksonville, Fla.; Charleston,
South Carolina; eastern North Carolina and Virginia; Washington, D.C.;
Baltimore; Philadelphia and Scranton, PA; Albany, NY; Montreal, Quebec
3:15  Ft. Myers, Orlando, Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; northeast edge of North
Carolina; east coast from Norfolk, VA to New York City; New England; Quebec
3:16  Havana, Cuba; Miami and Ft. Lauderdale; Providence, R.I.; Boston;
central Maine and New Brunswick
3:17  Grand Bahama Island; Saint John, New Brunswick
3:18  Nassau, Bahamas; southern Nova Scotia

For each subsequent night, add about 50 seconds to these predictions. --Rob