Subject: "Red Dot" Observations in the Southern Hemisphere
This is part of the Southern hemisphere geostationary flare
program of Jeff Umbarger. His assistance and advice has
been invaluable as well as the contributions from Bjorn Gimle
and Rod Austin. I propose to observe every night until the
"flare" season has passed.
Equipment: CoSaTrak 1 50mm f/1.8 lens with MINTRON
surveillance camera integrating for 128 frames (=2.56s
exposure). Mount track on shadow entry point ( approx
RA12h50m Dec +05deg. Field of view of camera 6.8 x 5.4
degrees, star limit magnitude approx +8.5 mag on 03 April
(due to full moon) and about half a magnitude fainter
on 04 April 2007.
03 April 2007
-----------------
SatName Cat No. Time(UT) RA (J2000) Dec mag Notes
------------ ------- --------- -------------------- --- -----
Insat ? 18h03m20s 12h48m45s +05d06'23" 5 1
Thiacom 2 #29163 18h22m19s 12h49m13s +05d03'54" 5 2
Intelsat 4 #23636 18h48m41s 12h48m00s +05d11'06" 5
Intelsat 7 #25473 19h00m48s 12h45m56s +05d12'48" 7 3
Intelsat 10 3
Inmarsat 3F1 #23839 19h19m09s 12h46m16s +05d22'41" 5
Intelsat 906 #27513 19h20m18s 12h46m05s +05d16'15" 5.5
Inmarsat 4F1 #28628 19h16m18s 12h40m45s +03d03'34" 6 4
Intelsat 902 #26900 19h28m51s 12h44m50s +05d15'50" 5.5
Intelsat 904 #27380 19h36m33s 12h44m15s +05d17'19" 5.0
NSS703 #23305 19h48m04s 12h42m21s +05d18'28" 5.5
Intelsat 702 #23124 5.5 5
Insat 3E #27951 6.5 5
Express AM #28134 20h05m05s 12h41m54s +05d21'59" 5.0
Intelsat 706 #23571 5.5 5
Yamal 202 #28089 5.5 5
Syracuse 3A #28885 20h28m35s 12h38m42s +05d21'31" 5.0
Intelsat 12 #26590 20h36m50s 12h37m58s +05d22'36" 5.0
Notes:
-------------
1. Three INSAT satellites in a cluster- one bright and
other two faint- dont know which one is which.
2. Thiacom 2 and Thiacom 5 together- dont know which
one seen - only saw one
3. Funny one this - both Intelsat 7 and 10 were bright
about 3 degrees before shadow entry but both faded out
before reaching shadow point.
4. Inclination of orbit 2.39 degrees.
5. Satellites seen but no shadow entry data obtained due
to cloud.
Difficult to estimate actual shadow entry time, and hence
position, as satellite has a slow gradual fade. Maybe with
no moon around matters may be easier. Larger aperture
( more magnitude gain) would also be able to better
determine point at which satellite no longer illuminated-
at the moment it just fades below my "stellar"limit -
around mag 8 - 8.5.
04 April 2007
-----------------
SatName Cat No Time(UT) RA (J2000) Dec Notes
----------- ------ --------- ------------------- ------
Insat ? 18h06m31s 12h55m22s +05d04'11" 6
Express AM2 #28629 18h17m52s 12h55m12s +05d07'06"
Thiacom 5 #29163 18h23m20s 12h54m35s +05d04'58" 7
Unsure ? 18h41m43s 12h53m49s +05d15'08" 8
Intelsat 4 #23636 18h49m46s 12h53m15s +05d12'49"
Eutelsat W5 #27554 18h55m08s 12h52m10s +05d13'09" 9
Intelsat W7 #25473 19h02m18s 12h51m13s +05d13'33" 9
Inmarsat 4F1 #28628 19h16m48s 12h45m01s +02d59'40"
Inmarsat 3F1 #23839 19h20m36s 12h51m44s +05d23'47"
Intelsat 906 #27513 19h21m27s 12h51m01s +05d14'03"
Intelsat 902 #26900 19h29m46s 12h50m01s +05d18'08"
Intelsat 904 #27380 19h37m39s 12h49m11s +05d18'29"
NSS 703 #23305 19h49m39s 12h48m12s +05d21'11"
Insat 3E #27951 19h56m21s 12h46m17s +05d20'55" 9
Intelsat 702 #23124 19h57m52s 12h46m41s +05d18'10"
Express AM22 #28134 20h06m13s 12h47m03s +05d22'15"
Notes:
---------
(6) Could see two of the INSATS that are in a tight group.
(7) Could see both THIACOM satellites-brighter one
reported.
(8) Three satellites together INSAT 3C/GSAT3 and KALPANA-
not sure which is which
(9) Difficult as faint.
Magnitudes on 4th April about a magnitude brighter than on the
3rd April.
UFO "Mother ship" spotted !
-------------------------------------
Unknown object sighted- since it was moving a lot faster
than a geostationary satellite and the area observed was
in earths shadow to at least geostationary height it cannot
be a satellite. Very much doubt if aircraft- was too faint-
about magnitude +8 to +8.5 roughly and no strobe lights seen.
Also unlikely to be a solitary bird as they usually fly over
in groups, so only leaves a real UFO and what better than a
UFO "Mother ship" :-)))
Details are:
April 04,2007
Time (UT) RA (J2000) Dec
-------- ---------------------
19h29m10.7s 12h33m52s +07d52'09"
19h29m21.0s 12h39m37s +06d51'43"
19h29m32.3s 12h46m03s +05d46'07"
19h29m38.6s 12h49m26s +05d10'26"
19h29m49.9s 12h55m31s +04d07'09"
Took about 40 seconds to cross approx 7 degree field of view.
Seen in real time and track shows in image captured.
Cheers
Greg
PS Hope the formatting is retained - was 100% in the text editor
used but Outlook Express, like most M/S products, messes up
things.
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