Observations 17 June 2009 Part 2
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Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System).
Camera mount now carries two systems that can be operated
together as two totally different sytems and computers used.
Meade DSI Pro II Monochrome CCD camera without filters.
using integration times of 5 sec min to 25 seconds maximum
depending on brightness of sky in particular area.No image
processing done, but some done automatically in the auto reduction
software.
Used with 4 inch SKYWATCHER refractor- model 1025 - fitted with home
made focal reducur to give an f/2.56 system. Image scale is 6.56 arc
sec/pixel and field of view 84.8 x 63.2 arc minutes. Shows 15th
magnitude stars in real time with reasonably good conditions.
Exposure time to nearest second inserted into image FITS header
from PC clock which is automatically checked every minute against
GPS signal.
Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude -33.94058 deg,
Elevation 10 metres-situated in Pinelands (Cape Town),South Africa
FOR CLASSFD.TLE:
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10669 78 016A 0433 G 20090617210727500 16 15 1635310-111534 38 +136 06
10669 78 016A 0433 G 20090617210905500 16 15 1637114-111802 28 +132 01
10669 78 016A 0433 G 20090617211027500 16 15 1638348-112001 28 +128 02
14675 84 009A 0433 G 20090617200400500 16 15 1206189+034948 18 +115 01
14675 84 009A 0433 G 20090617200611500 16 15 1208260+034526 18 +114 01
14675 84 009A 0433 G 20090617200733500 16 15 1209457+034242 28 +113 01
15543 85 010B 0433 G 20090617192738500 16 15 1822454-110253 28 +101 01
15543 85 010B 0433 G 20090617192949500 16 15 1825020-110647 28 +100 01
15543 85 010B 0433 G 20090617193127500 16 15 1826448-110937 18 +098 01
19976 89 035A 0433 G 20090617182412500 16 15 1423243+033606 28 +100 01
19976 89 035A 0433 G 20090617182533500 16 15 1425053+033326 18 +101 01
19976 89 035A 0433 G 20090617182639500 16 15 1426264+033118 28 +102 01
20253 89 077A 0433 G 20090617211757000 16 15 1343261+074318 38 +131 02
20253 89 077A 0433 G 20090617211943000 16 15 1345114+073844 38 +131 02
20253 89 077A 0433 G 20090617212108000 16 15 1346356+073506 38 +132 02
22519 92 086C 0433 G 20090617202337500 16 35 2201024-517816 29 +099 02
22519 92 086C 0433 G 20090617202355500 16 15 2204356-512905 48 +123 04
22519 92 086C 0433 G 20090617202558500 16 15 2226468-492315 29 +113 12
23855 96 026A 0433 G 20090617195915000 16 15 1452544+013317 18 +097 00
23855 96 026A 0433 G 20090617200046000 16 15 1454350+012947 77 +097 00
23855 96 026A 0433 G 20090617200154000 16 15 1455503+012710 18 +100 02
23945 96 038A 0433 G 20090617201320500 16 15 1453095+265850 28 +098 01
23945 96 038A 0433 G 20090617201358500 16 15 1453597+271625 38 +099 01
23945 96 038A 0433 G 20090617201424500 16 15 1454343+272827 38 +099 01
23945 96 038A 0433 G 20090617201529500 16 15 1455576+275728 28 +102 01
23945 96 038A 0433 G 20090617201620500 16 15 1457023+282002 28 +103 01
23945 96 038A 0433 G 20090617201723500 16 15 1458195+284659 28 +105 01
23947 96 038C 0433 G 20090617203744500 16 15 1447368+282100 38 +115 04
23947 96 038C 0433 G 20090617204130500 16 15 1500213+250651 58 +102 02
23947 96 038C 0433 G 20090617204534500 16 15 1516189+210211 38 +115 02
23947 96 038C 0433 G 20090617204811000 16 15 1528154+175623 48 +100 01
24737 97 008A 0433 G 20090617185903000 16 15 1407520+101441 28 +125 04
24737 97 008A 0433 G 20090617190028000 16 15 1409165+101157 28 +125 02
24737 97 008A 0433 G 20090617190214000 16 15 1411030+100831 18 +127 02
25336 98 029A 0433 G 20090617214126000 16 15 1838180-032630 28 +083 01
25336 98 029A 0433 G 20090617214256000 16 15 1839507-032647 28 +083 00
25336 98 029A 0433 G 20090617214404000 16 15 1841002-032658 28 +083 01
25669 99 017A 0433 G 20090617164834500 16 15 1129167+320453 18 +113 02
25669 99 017A 0433 G 20090617165206500 16 15 1131112+315533 18 +133 08
25669 99 017A 0433 G 20090617165344500 16 15 1131586+315050 38 +124 08
26356 00 024A 0433 G 20090617193355500 16 15 1101396+110941 18 +116 01
26356 00 024A 0433 G 20090617193604500 16 15 1103489+110845 28 +117 01
26356 00 024A 0433 G 20090617193715500 16 15 1105008+110813 38 +115 01
26575 00 065A 0433 G 20090617212930500 16 15 1407396+052404 18 +125 04
26575 00 065A 0433 G 20090617213036500 16 15 1408452+052402 18 +125 03
26575 00 065A 0433 G 20090617213157500 16 15 1410072+052401 18 +130 09
27168 02 001A 0433 G 20090617182031500 16 15 1411220+060957 28 +112 02
27168 02 001A 0433 G 20090617182153500 16 15 1412441+060853 28 +110 01
27168 02 001A 0433 G 20090617182258500 16 15 1413495+060802 18 +114 01
27691 03 008A 0433 G 20090617192006000 16 15 1723115+051601 28 +122 03
27691 03 008A 0433 G 20090617192152000 16 15 1724583+051600 18 +120 01
27691 03 008A 0433 G 20090617192318000 16 15 1726237+051559 18 +123 03
28546 04 050B 0433 G 20090617170346000 16 15 1142272+115730 48 +120 05
28546 04 050B 0433 G 20090617170505000 16 15 1145046+120455 28 +113 01
28546 04 050B 0433 G 20090617170624000 16 15 1147368+121152 38 +111 01
29242 06 024C 0433 G 20090617174657000 16 15 1412546+073038 28 +129 05
29242 06 024C 0433 G 20090617174926000 16 15 1415305+072917 38 +139 02
29242 06 024C 0433 G 20090617175155000 16 15 1418061+072756 18 +140 02
32287 07 054A 0433 G 20090617191337500 16 15 1731294+045557 18 +117 01
32287 07 054A 0433 G 20090617191443500 16 15 1732352+045643 28 +117 01
32287 07 054A 0433 G 20090617191605500 16 15 1733572+045740 18 +118 01
32288 07 054B 0433 G 20090617170740000 16 15 1058113+020938 28 +118 01
32288 07 054B 0433 G 20090617170900000 16 15 1059274+020929 28 +113 02
32288 07 054B 0433 G 20090617171019000 16 15 1100439+020920 28 +115 01
33490 09 001A 0433 G 20090617162625500 16 15 1326390+033023 28 +088 01
33491 09 001B 0433 G 20090617173029500 16 15 0925053+054121 97 +114 01
33491 09 001B 0433 G 20090617173208500 16 15 0926352+054008 18
33491 09 001B 0433 G 20090617173257500 16 15 0927196+053931 28
90005 99 804A 0433 G 20090617214539000 16 15 1841031-040221 28 +111 01
90005 99 804A 0433 G 20090617214721000 16 15 1842576-040220 28 +111 01
90005 99 804A 0433 G 20090617214818000 16 15 1844012-040218 28 +112 01
90020 04 539A 0433 G 20090617165654000 16 15 1031074+233559 28 +140 04
90020 04 539A 0433 G 20090617165751000 16 15 1032058+235911 28 +129 07
90040 05 683A 0433 G 20090617173503500 16 15 1410493-255013 18
90040 05 683A 0433 G 20090617173714500 16 15 1413209-254957 28 +109 01
90040 05 683A 0433 G 20090617173852500 16 15 1415162-254934 18 +112 01
96060 96 560A 0433 G 20090617185040500 16 15 1355532-104403 58 +143 06
96060 96 560A 0433 G 20090617185419000 16 15 1400492-110738 68 +122 02
96060 96 560A 0433 G 20090617185523000 16 15 1402157-111128 28 +108 01
96062 96 562A 0433 G 20090617212310000 16 15 1348309+064115 28 +144 02
96062 96 562A 0433 G 20090617212547000 16 15 1351074+063958 18 +141 02
96062 96 562A 0433 G 20090617212752000 16 15 1353123+063900 18 +143 05
96077 96 577A 0433 G 20090617215047500 16 15 1906356-045343 38 +127 02
96077 96 577A 0433 G 20090617215139500 16 15 1907281-045521 58 +112 02
96077 96 577A 0433 G 20090617215206500 16 15 1907552-045617 38 +124 05
96078 96 578A 0433 G 20090617220205000 16 15 1925402-054718 28 +127 01
96078 96 578A 0433 G 20090617220411000 16 15 1927476-054225 19 +117 04
96078 96 578A 0433 G 20090617220545000 16 15 1929233-053812 58 +123 03
Strays seen:
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COSMOS 1366
13177 82 044A 0433 G 20090617192810500 16 15 1823510-112148 28 +114 02
13177 82 044A 0433 G 20090617193127500 16 15 1827157-112245 18 +119 02
ARTEMIS
26863 01 029A 0433 G 20090617185903000 16 15 1411256+103232 38 +125 08
26863 01 029A 0433 G 20090617190214000 16 15 1414370+102656 28 +128 05
ATLANTIC BIRD 1
27508 02 040A 0433 G 20090617212930500 16 15 1409310+052344 18 +130 01
27508 02 040A 0433 G 20090617213157500 16 15 1411585+052342 18 +131 01
ARABSAT 2B
24652 96 063A 0433 G 20090617182031500 16 15 1413219+053036 28 +120 01
24652 96 063A 0433 G 20090617182258500 16 15 1415497+053033 18 +118 01
BLOCK DM-SL R/B
26452 00 043B 0433 G 20090617192006000 16 15 1721482+051233 28 +128 10
26452 00 043B 0433 G 20090617192318000 16 15 1724497+050553 28 +119 02
INTELSAT 904
27380 02 007A 0433 G 20090617192006000 16 15 1725223+051451 28 +114 02
27380 02 007A 0433 G 20090617192318000 16 15 1728341+051449 18 +114 02
SL-12 R/B(2)
26939 01 052B 0433 G 20090617192006000 16 15 1723121+045039 28 +127 02
26939 01 052B 0433 G 20090617192256000 16 15 1726032+044602 28 +125 02
BREEZE-M R/B
28925 05 052B 0433 G 20090617170505000 16 15 1141578+115434 29 +111 09
28925 05 052B 0433 G 20090617170624000 16 15 1146446+113730 19 +123 12
Notes:
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(1) All images processed automatically with APEX-II program. Approx
500 images taken-about 15 or more per satellite - and all measured
but only reporting first,last and approximately middle observations.
(2) 90020 very faint - could only see the brief flashes so difficult to
precisely determine middle of trail.
(3) How APEX-II works -- a FITS image is taken and middle of exposure
and duration noted. A short program reads the FITS file name and the
middle of exposure and makes a prediction in RA and Dec for the
satellite. This is used as the approximate image centre. APEX then
examines the fits image and computes the length of a star trail for
the exposure duration used as well as the orientation angle of star
trails and then examines all pixels to determine sky background sky
level etc. It then determines pixel coordinates for objects above
the background level and applies ome minor image processing to
remove vignetting etc. It finally has a "list" of between typically
50 and 5000 objects and proceeds to examine EACH to see if it meets
certain criteria (eg trail length/ pixel width/ orientation angle),
shape etc and rejects suspects that are dead pixels,cosmic ray
strikes,non stellar etc.
The program is then left with a number of "objects" that could be
stars or satellites and,using the estimated image centre it extracts
stars from the TYCHO-2 star catalog that are expected to be in the
predicted field of view and tries to match the stars against the
objects until it finds a minimum of 10 stars that match.
It then does a rigorous plate solution which computes optical
defects etc and finally ends with a position for each trail of star
or satellite. If no match is found the program then starts to do a
spiral search around the predicted position until a match is found
thus allowing for the object not being at the "expected" position.
In this way the program is also able to detect other satellites in
the field of view. Magnitudes are determined for each object
measured as well as the atmospheric "seeing" as well as residuals
for stars for each position.
The program then reads a database of elements and proceeds to match
all satellites found and produces a detailed list for each object
giving position,magnitude and residuals and computes a new orbit
based on these observations. It also produces a table in the
different formats used by SeeSat etc.
All this is done completely automatically and a complete solution
takes between about 20 seconds minimum to sometimes as much as a
few minutes if no immediate match is found or there are a large
number of objects to check-eg say 4000 objects or a spiral search
is necessary.
There is a lot more to the way APEX operates but the above will
provide an idea of how it is done. It is a brilliant piece of
software programming by Vladimir Kouprianov of the Pulkova
Observatory and part of his job is to tour the different
facilities in the ISON network to train observers in the use of
APEX. The program is still in development and what Scott and I use
is but a small fraction of what APEX can do. Since the program is
virtually completely automatic there is hardly no "learning
curve"- the biggest "problem" is installing the sofware and thats
pretty straight forward. To top it all the software is FREEWARE!!!
Cheers
Greg
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Jun 20 2009 - 09:30:17 UTC