Re: Satellite Identification - March 12.
JAY RESPLER (jrespler@injersey.com)
Wed, 13 Mar 1996 23:04:07 -0500 (EST)
On Wed, 13 Mar 1996, Larry Klaes wrote:
> possible. I don't have the fancy equipment that members of this
> list have to track and ID sats, so I will give you the data I can:
You really don't need any fancy equipment to do what you want. Since
you're using a pc to access this list, you already have what you need.
Use a prediction program like QUICKSAT. Get satellite elements,
available from several sources. Use the program to see what was in the area.
That's it. It is also a very good learning experience for students.
> > Location -
Concord, MA > Date - March 12
All prediction programs need lat and long to make predictions. That
should be supplied with observations.
> Path - South to north, between Taurus and Orion. Passed close by Polaris
Was it E or W? How many degrees high?
> Appearance - Mag. 2 roughly, though the light pollution may have made it
> appear dimmer than actual. May have had a redish-yellow
If it matches a mag 2 star, then that is the sat mag also. Lights affect
the brightness of a star just as much as the star.
> My class and I would be
most interested in finding out what
this > satellite was. Our guess is a reconaissance sat due to the polar
> orbit. It was a nice bonus to our star observations.
There are other types of sats, such as weather sats, in polar orbit.
Furnish some more info. I'm sure we can id your UFO.
~~~~~~~~~ JRespler@InJersey.com
Jay.Respler@bytewise.org Voice 908-431-1464
Satellite Tracker * Early Typewriter Collector
Freehold, New Jersey