Telstar 401: surprising speed-up

Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Tue, 09 Mar 1999 03:08:38 -0600

After looking unsuccessfully for two or three four-to-five-
minute periods, I first saw a flash (one-power, about +2?) at 
about 2:45:31 Tuesday 9 March UTC (8:45:31 PM CST).  The first 
four flashes were equally bright; the fifth flash was fainter, 
and they gradually dimmed after that.  The flash period was 
measured at 244.00 seconds -- 2.7 seconds faster than just six 
days ago!?!?

I managed to see three one-power flashes last Friday night 
(early Saturday 6 March UTC) from San Antonio in spite of a 
mostly cloudy sky.  I got a flash period of 245.60, which did
not seem possible to me until getting the 9 March observations.  

So here are the flash-period measurements to date:

  March  3 =  248.00 seconds (rough obs. of only two periods)
  March  4 =  246.70 
  March  6 =  245.60 (only three periods)
  March  9 =  244.00

Maybe someone in another city or state can observe this one 
also?

TELSTAR 401
1 22927U 93077A   99066.45853995 -.00000132  00000-0  00000+0 0  1242
2 22927   1.6477  85.7491 0005851 223.7762 279.7244  1.00284701 18660

Sure was sorry to see the bad news about WIRE.  But anyway Mike 
McCants and I observed it early Tuesday UTC, and we saw a couple
of one-power flashes after the culmination of its pass.

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