Re: our first images of the ASTRA satellite cluster AND NOSS angular separation

From: Bjorn Gimle (b_gimle@algonet.se)
Date: Sun Jun 16 2002 - 14:10:43 EDT


I wrote:
>
> The same goes for NOSS. ...

Of course not the same period - NOSS 2-x are typically in orbits with 107.4
min nodal period.

On the other hand the argument on the "outlier" is also valid for the
geostationaries, e.g. the Astra cluster. Since they are not all at the same
declination, some will S or N of the equator, and cross it during the night
(or morning and evening)

They could also be closer or more distant than other members, in which case
they will have a higher or lower orbital speed, and move sideways.

In Josef Huber's images, most of the satellites move more in the N-S
direction, so I rotated the images 90 degrees, and produced two nice stereo
pairs (1-5 and 2-6). I also combined 1+6 in one image, and marked the motion
of all satellites.

There are many faint "objects" that appear at (nearly) the same spot in all
images. They could be faults in the CCD chip, but looking at the pair 2-6 I
see many, but several that appear to be above or below the plane of the
others, ie moving !


I can provide the combined, paired or individual images on request, or on my
web site later.

/Björn Gimle

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