Intelsat 4-7 Rk & Cosmos 2349

Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Tue, 10 Mar 1998 03:45:22 -0600

Two kind of usual obs Monday evening:

Intelsat 4-7 Rk (#06797, 73-58B) at a range of less than
1440 km (900 miles) -- about mag. +3 on maxima:  very quick 
flashes, one brighter, one fainter (I think -- 1-power obs.;
may have been two fainter ones between the bright ones...), 
and invisible in between.  The last flash report in the 
online PPAS database was almost 15 years ago; it's still 
flashing.  (I didn't get any times, however.)  It's not very
often that an object with MM=2.20992 is visible at 1-power 
from a poor location!  Strange sky-track, pretty much a 
straight line from alt 61, az 181 towards alt 61, az 138, 
but it got too faint for 1-power before reaching the latter 
point.

Cosmos 2349 (#25167, 98-09A) -- very nice!  My only prediction 
point was 15 miles from the shadow, alt 68 az 1, but it was 
easily visible (+2 at least) much closer to the horizon not 
far west of Polaris.  As fast as it was going, I only got to 
watch it for maybe 30 seconds (?) before it entered the shadow
almost directly overhead.  It was probably at least +1 at its 
brightest.  

Also saw Cosmos 2333 Rk (#24298, 96-51B), an easy, slowing
flasher, probably between mag. +2.0 and +2.5 on maxima.  I
enjoy its leisurely pace as it tumbles across the sky.  When
are they going to launch another one?  I'll never forget when 
I first saw one of those Zenits flashing faster than once per 
second!  I was not expecting the flashing, and if I had not 
had the predictions, I would not have believed it was an 
orbiting object.

If memory serves, March 9 was the "second anniversary" of my 
getting into satellite watching, after seeing, due to reports
in the local daily newspaper, the Tethered Satellite (WOW!) 
one morning and the next morning a Shuttle followed a couple 
of minutes later by a bright UNID.  That was GRO, I was 
informed a couple of days later by someone named Mike McCants.  
I think maybe Sue Worden was one of the intermediaries who 
forwarded my inquiry to Mike.  Thanks Mike and Sue and 
everyone else!  I really enjoy this crazy hobby!!

Ed Cannon
ecannon@mail.utexas.edu
Austin, Texas, USA