Tom, Something to bear in mind is that the L pattern is only true for part of the orbit. (At the sort of latitudes most people view from!). The satellite that is "off to one side" has a different right ascension, so its plane, and the plane of the two which follow the same orbit, must intersect somewhere. At this point of intersection, all three satellites will be roughly in a line. I think the FAS site contains a description of the way the eccentricity of the orbits are controlled to ensure that an effective baseline is maintained when this occurs. Regards, Stuart In message <015401c214a1$a233f740$4920db0c@mchsi.com>, Tom Wagner <sciteach@mchsi.com> writes >Ralph McConahy just told me some information that is good to know for >knowing what to expect when looking for all the components of a NOSS trio. >That is, the NOSS trios are in an "L" pattern--one following the other on >nearly the same track with a third 3° to 5° to one side. > >Another question---are they all equidistant or are two much closer together? > >Now I will determine the size of the field of view of my binoculars and get >a feel for how far apart they can be when looking through those binocs. > >The next thing for me is to see a pair move through my telescope's field of >view set at 25X. > >Thanks Ralph! > >Tom >Iowa >USA >..... > >----------------------------------------------------------------- >Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' >in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@satobs.org >http://www2.satellite.eu.org/sat/seesat/seesatindex.html > -- Stuart Eves ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@satobs.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/sat/seesat/seesatindex.html
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