Re: Iridium 12 flare ...

Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Wed, 24 Sep 1997 17:47:38 -0400

I must correct my report of the monster Iridium flare Monday night.  (Or 
was it a "humongous" flare...?)  I guess I was suffering from the effects 
of Iridiation.  Mike M. kindly pointed out to me that the Sun does not set 
in the East....

Moral: Never assume anything!  It turns out that Home Planet measures azimuth 
from the South:  

> Azimuth: Local compass point at the observing site above which 
> the object appears.  Astronomers measure azimuth from the South 
> (consistent with the convention for hour angle), with positive 
> angles toward the West and negative angles toward the East.

So the Sun's azimuth was 282 (102+180), not 102.  Here's the corrected report:

NORAD   date       time   Dir  aI eI  aM  eM  aS   eS Phs  Dur Mag Obs  COSPAR
24837  97-09-23  01:58:50  S  131 48  084 57  282 -21 145  02  -6  EdC  97030B

Ed Cannon
ecannon@mail.utexas.edu
Austin, Texas, USA
Observations and report from UT location: 30.29N, 97.74W, 165m