Tether for L.A. Friday a.m.
Rob Matson (Rob_Matson@cpqm.saic.com)
14 Mar 1996 09:36:37 U
Subject: Time: 09:10
OFFICE MEMO Tether for L.A. Friday a.m. Date: 96/03/14
Southern California's Friday morning (3/15) pass of the (un)tether will be a
bit of a challenge at only 12 degrees ATH. TSS emerges from shadow and is
fully illuminated by the time it passes 1-deg below delta-Lup (mag 3.4) at
5:00:47am PST. 7 seconds later it passes 1.5-deg below tau-Lup (m 3.4). TSS
is due south at 5:01:27, 11.5 deg above the horizon. At 5:01:32 is will pass
2.5 deg below zeta-Sco (m 3.8), and at 5:01:41 it will be 11-deg above the
horizon and 2-deg below eta-Sco (m 3.4). The last decent stellar reference is
at 5:01:55 when TSS passes 2-deg below theta-Sco (2.0) when the satellite is
10-deg above the horizon. These predictions are based on SGP4 propagation of
the following two-line elements:
TSS/tether
1 23805U 96012B 96075.01926523 .01315026 70094-4 00000-0 0 90634
2 23805 28.4694 131.6918 0039145 33.1732 327.0693 15.88232474 3347
This morning's (3/14) pass was within 20 seconds of being on-time. Yes, for
once, the clouds cleared in SoCal. I could still make out the brighter TSS
"pinhead" in my 8 x 56's, and the bottom quarter to bottom fifth of the tether
was very slightly bent in the wake direction. Saw no bright spot on the
low-end of the tether -- it appeared uniform along its length. I estimate mag
3.5 at the earliest (i.e. brightest) part of the pass. Clear skies and good
hunting tomorrow! --Rob