TiPS on 7-21 & 22 U.T.
R.B. Minton (rbminton@sembilan.UCHSC.edu)
Mon, 22 Jul 1996 12:17:21 -0600
I observed TiPS in the West on these two UT dates. On 7-21-96 it was acquired
at 04:02:18 UT on video with a 3.5 inch aperture, F/5.6, 500mm focal length
Cassegrain reflector with a video field of view of 2 deg. TiPS was then lost
from view 10 sec. later because it could not be seen in the video viewfinder.
It could not be re-acquired 6 subsequent times during the same pass. The
initial acquisition was due to its abnormal brightness. The observation was at
azimuth 299, elegation 31; which put it towards the solar azimuth. The mag.
limit of this setup is 9. The upper mass was only marginally visible at 1 or
2 times. The lower mass was almost always visible except near the end leaving
only the tether recorded. Measuring the TV screen using the plate scale &
video enlargement gives a tether length of 7 arc-min; with the upper mass lead-
ing by 15 deg. There were numerous flashes with attack & decay times around
half a second - nowhere near as fast as EGP, but much faster than a rotating
booster. The brightness of the lower mass varied by the same half-second, and
the following are mag. estimates at the start of each whole second:
18 = 6
19 = 7
20 = 8
21 = 4 (yes, four)
22 = 8
23 = 7
24 = 8
25->28 = 9
TiPS was about 10 sec. early using the 96191 elset.
The 2nd observation was on 7-22-96 from 04:41 to 04:46 UT using only 10x70
handheld binoculars. The max. elevation of 20 deg. precluded using the normal
video setup. I used averted vision almost the whole time looking for flashes -
there were none and only the tether was visible. I did not record the orienta-
tion (blush).
R. B. Minton
Astronomers not only do it at night, they start during strong twilight.