Molniya 3-49 objects 98-40B & C
Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Wed, 08 Jul 1998 03:24:49 -0400
Sighted the two LEO Molniya 3-49 LEO objects Tuesday evening
(early 8 July 1998 UTC) from BCRC, Austin, Texas -- 30.314N,
97.866W, 280m. Object B reached about mag. zero, and Mike M.
timed it tumbling with a period of about 2.5 to 2.6 seconds.
Object C, the "platform" was about 3 magnitudes fainter. Both
were in a hurry!
25380 (98-40B, Molniya 3-49 Rk(1), SL-6 R/B [1])
25381 (98-40C, Molniya 3-49 Pl., SL-6 Plat.)
98040B
1 25380U 98040B 98187.91255087 .00958997 80939-5 96756-3 0 256
2 25380 62.7640 218.2046 0104040 135.1751 225.8138 16.00101870 946
98040C
1 25381U 98040C 98187.86305573 .01881259 80614-5 84325-3 0 242
2 25381 62.7867 218.4498 0148300 125.5381 235.9925 16.01117779 931
I think that *possibly* 25380 is the UNID Eric Vondra saw, due
to brightness, direction of travel, tumble period, and an ex post
facto Quicksat prediction that kind of fits (if 45 minutes before
USA 86 fits). It's a high-drag object, so there's definitely
room for some error. (It was two minutes ahead of the Wednesday
evening prediction that Jari [finn@main.jetnet.ab.ca] had.)
Ed Cannon -- ecannon@mail.utexas.edu -- Austin, Texas, USA