Observations 03 FEB 2012
----------------------------
Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System).
MINTRON low light level CCD surveillance camera (0.005
lux typical in non integration mode) and 0.00005 lux in STARLIGHT
mode with 128 frame integration.
Used with ~145mm focal length f/2.5 lens,integrating for 128 fields
which is equivalent to a max exposure of 2.56 seconds per image,
dependent on background slight level.
Field of view 2.51 x 1.86 degrees.
Individual frames are video time stamped with GPS derived signal.
Shows stars to about mag 12.5 in real time.
Recorded on DVD and manually reduced the following day.
Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude -33.94058 deg,
Elevation 10 metres-situated in Pinelands (Cape Town),South Africa
FOR CLASSFD.TLE:
-----------------------
20692 90 050D 0433 F 20120203190407400 56 15 2028574-705117 39
20692 90 050D 0433 F 20120203190420000 56 15 2009427-712937 39
20691 90 050C 0433 F 20120203190453600 56 15 1810149-723202 39
20691 90 050C 0433 F 20120203190501400 56 15 1758233-721820 39
20642 90 050E 0433 F 20120203190638400 56 15 1733533-710344 39
28646 05 016A 0433 F 20120203192834200 56 15 1143235-255755 39 +040 05
28646 05 016A 0433 F 20120203192842200 56 15 1148067-262646 39 +040 05
28646 05 016A 0433 F 20120203192850200 56 15 1152439-265257 39 +040 05
09415 76 091A 0433 F 20120203192850200 56 15 1148517-263627 39 +055 05
09415 76 091A 0433 F 20120203192913600 56 15 1200020-302505 39 +055 05
09415 76 091A 0433 F 20120203192933400 56 15 1210244-333305 39 +055 05
25157 98 007A 0433 F 20120203203702500 56 15 0025269-351921 39 +080 05
25157 98 007A 0433 F 20120203203713200 56 15 0017239-361543 39
25157 98 007A 0433 F 20120203203721900 56 15 0011052-365635 39
14728 84 012C 0433 F 20120203204131200 56 15 0907176-130304 39 +060 05
14728 84 012C 0433 F 20120203204218300 56 15 0929579-194257 39 +060 05
14728 84 012C 0433 F 20120203204310000 56 15 0956572-262817 39 +060 05
34903 09 023A 0433 F 20120203223947700 56 15 1700265-583042 39
34903 09 023A 0433 F 20120203223957300 56 15 1649170-585255 39
34903 09 023A 0433 F 20120203224020000 56 15 1627013-591121 39
34903 09 023A 0433 F 20120203224047900 56 15 1558299-590941 39
08836 76 038D 0433 F 20120203224900100 56 15 1241549-533910 39
STRAYS SEEN:
-----------------
SJ-12
36596 10 027A 0433 F 20120203190526100 56 15 1812482-722448 39 +065 05
MONITOR-E 1
28822 05 032A 0433 F 20120203191005600 56 15 0640192+224045 39 +020 05
BREEZE M DEB (TANK) range 15100 kms
33437 08 057B 0433 F 20120203194001700 56 15 0209359-440742 39 +065 05
COSMOS 2215
22186 92 068E 0433 F 20120203200812100 56 15 0726528+040512 39 +075 05
COSMOS 831 variable to invisible
08895 76 054G 0433 F 20120203202905900 56 15 1509335-613821 39 +070 05
BREEZE M R/B range 12090 kms
37186 10 053B 0433 F 20120203204033400 56 15 0905167-141619 39 +065 05
PSLV R/B range 7760 kms variable
37747 11 034B 0433 F 20120203205347200 56 15 0718532+104333 39 +055 05
SL-8 R/B
25592 98 076B 0433 F 20120203210801200 56 15 1011597-681019 39 +065 05
BREEZE M R/B range 20110 kms
37934 11 069B 0433 F 20120203215337800 56 15 0623406+102525 39 +065 05
BREEZE M DEB (tank) range 4350 kms
31103 07 009B 0433 F 20120203215740100 56 15 0624161+090926 39 +025 05
ATLAS 2 A Centaur R/B range 20460 kms
25968 99 063B 0433 F 20120203220116000 56 15 0932187-132053 39 +050 05
NOTES:
---------
(1) Balance of observations made 03 Feb 2012.
(2) Have been evaluating several lenses I have to determine which is
most suitable for LEO satellites using the FLI CCD camera. One lens
looked promising - a Meyer Optik Telemegor 400mm focal length f/5.5
lens consisting of 4 elements and in excellant condition. Unfortunately
the focus turned out to be very "soft" at f/5.5 - improving at f/8 but
of course loosing aperture/magnitude. Despite being made in 1937 (older
than me!- and better looking ) they are often found on Ebay etc but are
totally unsuitable for astro or satellite use. Ive decided to stick
with the Nikon lens as optical definition is superb, the only drawback
being very critical focus and internal lens reflections.
(3) The lens used for this sessions video observations is a TAMRON 200mm
f/3.5 lens into which I fitted an objective lens from 10x50mm binoculars
to serve as a focal reducer and the result is about 145mm focal length
at f/2.5. The optical quality is very good and performance wise is
similar to the FLI CCD camera for short exposures.
Cheers
Greg
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Feb 05 2012 - 10:33:31 UTC