Re: Possible re-entry witnessed

From: Tony Beresford (dberesford@adam.com.au)
Date: Sat Sep 22 2012 - 02:46:16 UTC

  • Next message: Mark Robinson: "Re: Possible re-entry witnessed"

    At 07:37 AM 22/09/2012, Ramon van der Hilst wrote:
    >Hi all,
    >We just observed (21:54 UTC) a bright (mag -4 or -5) green object 
    >flying nearly horizontally from the east to the west at 
    >approximately 15 degrees above the horizon. We saw it first below 
    >Perseus, to the NE, and it fell apart in two pieces below our sight 
    >in Bootes, in the NW. It
    >Covered about 60 degrees and was As slow as a bright Orionid, or 
    >slightly slower.
    >Our coordinates are 51 40'38"N, 5 28'18".
    >Are there known possible re-entries, and are there other observations?
    There no known re-entries mentioned on space-track.org.
    There are other observations from Ireland.
    
    East to west motion for a satellite implies a retrograde orbit say 126 degrees.
    There are not many satellites in such inclinations. The only  recent ones
    are the two FIA radar satellites currently in 1100km high 123 degree orbits.
    Also note the speed estimate Ramon made. re-entering satellites in 
    circular orbits
    can only be travelling at 8km/second. A lot slower than an orionid meteor.
    
    Tony Beresford 
    
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