I have appended tonight's ground tracks of Raduga 33's passages through perigee, when it may glow due to atmospheric heating. Perigee passages occur near latitude 47.9 deg. Observers within about 4.6 deg above and below that latitude, located along the longitude track, may see perigee at maximum elevations of at least 10 deg. The object will be within Earth's shadow, so it will only be visible if it is glowing due to atmospheric heating. There is no guarantee, but I believe there is a sporting chance. When running predictions for your site, make certain to command your ephemeris generator to show passes within the shadow. Predictions can easily be off by 10 min or more, so be prepared to look early and late. Keep in mind that the predicted path will change depending on how early/late the object is, due to Earth's rotation. This is especially important if you are expecting a high elevation pass. My pass, predicted for 2004 May 03 at 05:15 UTC, will reach only 11 deg - low enough that the track will be little affected by prediction errors of +/- 10 min. On such a low pass, I will use binoculars. The object is so low at perigee, that you are far more likely to have a low pass, than a high one, but it is still worth a try. Low passes require a bit more planning, to make certain you have an unobstructed view. Also, try to intercept the satellite where its track passes some reasonably bright stars, say mag 4 or brighter. Bright stars are easier to find when looking through the murk at 10 deg elevation. I will be unavailable to post updates until 0 h UTC, perhaps later. Ted Molczan 1 23794U 96010A 04123.46837407 .58490862 11634-4 41863-2 0 4888 2 23794 47.7709 126.7186 3314068 91.8175 305.6151 9.09301630 71918 Groundtrack of NORAD# 23794 96010A on 2004 May 3 UTC UTC Lat Long Alt Radius Sun ---------------------------------------------------------- 00:21:10 47.851 N 15.626 W 120.953 6487.378 U 00:21:20 47.893 N 14.501 W 118.980 6485.389 U 00:21:30 47.922 N 13.375 W 117.283 6483.681 U 00:21:40 47.940 N 12.246 W 115.863 6482.254 U 00:21:50 47.946 N 11.117 W 114.721 6481.110 U 00:22:00 47.940 N 9.988 W 113.857 6480.248 U 00:22:10 47.922 N 8.858 W 113.270 6479.668 U 00:22:20 47.892 N 7.730 W 112.962 6479.371 U 00:22:30 47.850 N 6.604 W 112.932 6479.356 U 00:22:40 47.796 N 5.479 W 113.180 6479.624 U 00:22:50 47.731 N 4.357 W 113.706 6480.175 U 00:23:00 47.654 N 3.239 W 114.510 6481.007 U 00:23:10 47.565 N 2.125 W 115.591 6482.122 U 00:23:20 47.464 N 1.015 W 116.950 6483.518 U 00:23:30 47.353 N 0.089 E 118.586 6485.195 U 00:23:40 47.229 N 1.188 E 120.498 6487.154 U 02:48:00 47.802 N 53.745 W 121.699 6488.142 U 02:48:10 47.854 N 52.627 W 119.447 6485.869 U 02:48:20 47.895 N 51.506 W 117.464 6483.872 U 02:48:30 47.924 N 50.384 W 115.751 6482.149 U 02:48:40 47.940 N 49.259 W 114.310 6480.701 U 02:48:50 47.946 N 48.134 W 113.139 6479.528 U 02:49:00 47.939 N 47.008 W 112.240 6478.632 U 02:49:10 47.920 N 45.883 W 111.613 6478.011 U 02:49:20 47.890 N 44.759 W 111.257 6477.666 U 02:49:30 47.848 N 43.636 W 111.173 6477.598 U 02:49:40 47.794 N 42.515 W 111.361 6477.806 U 02:49:50 47.728 N 41.397 W 111.820 6478.290 U 02:50:00 47.651 N 40.283 W 112.552 6479.050 U 02:50:10 47.562 N 39.173 W 113.554 6480.086 U 02:50:20 47.462 N 38.067 W 114.828 6481.397 U 02:50:30 47.350 N 36.966 W 116.372 6482.983 U 02:50:40 47.227 N 35.871 W 118.187 6484.843 U 02:50:50 47.093 N 34.782 W 120.272 6486.978 U 05:13:10 47.781 N 90.772 W 120.491 6486.941 U 05:13:20 47.837 N 89.659 W 118.127 6484.556 U 05:13:30 47.882 N 88.543 W 116.026 6482.439 U 05:13:40 47.914 N 87.425 W 114.189 6480.590 U 05:13:50 47.936 N 86.305 W 112.617 6479.010 U 05:14:00 47.945 N 85.184 W 111.309 6477.698 U 05:14:10 47.943 N 84.062 W 110.266 6476.656 U 05:14:20 47.929 N 82.941 W 109.488 6475.884 U 05:14:30 47.903 N 81.820 W 108.976 6475.381 U 05:14:40 47.865 N 80.700 W 108.730 6475.149 U 05:14:50 47.816 N 79.582 W 108.748 6475.186 U 05:15:00 47.755 N 78.467 W 109.033 6475.493 U 05:15:10 47.682 N 77.355 W 109.582 6476.069 U 05:15:20 47.598 N 76.247 W 110.398 6476.916 U 05:15:30 47.502 N 75.143 W 111.478 6478.031 U 05:15:40 47.395 N 74.044 W 112.822 6479.416 U 05:15:50 47.277 N 72.950 W 114.431 6481.069 U 05:16:00 47.148 N 71.862 W 116.304 6482.990 U 05:16:10 47.008 N 70.781 W 118.441 6485.179 U 05:16:20 46.857 N 69.706 W 120.840 6487.634 U 07:36:30 47.703 N 128.247 W 120.761 6487.240 U 07:36:40 47.772 N 127.142 W 118.090 6484.543 U 07:36:50 47.830 N 126.034 W 115.675 6482.107 U 07:37:00 47.876 N 124.923 W 113.518 6479.933 U 07:37:10 47.910 N 123.809 W 111.618 6478.020 U 07:37:20 47.933 N 122.693 W 109.976 6476.369 U 07:37:30 47.944 N 121.576 W 108.592 6474.981 U 07:37:40 47.944 N 120.458 W 107.467 6473.857 U 07:37:50 47.932 N 119.340 W 106.601 6472.995 U 07:38:00 47.908 N 118.223 W 105.993 6472.397 U 07:38:10 47.872 N 117.107 W 105.646 6472.062 U 07:38:20 47.825 N 115.993 W 105.557 6471.991 U 07:38:30 47.766 N 114.881 W 105.728 6472.184 U 07:38:40 47.696 N 113.772 W 106.158 6472.640 U 07:38:50 47.614 N 112.666 W 106.847 6473.360 U 07:39:00 47.521 N 111.565 W 107.795 6474.342 U 07:39:10 47.416 N 110.469 W 109.002 6475.588 U 07:39:20 47.301 N 109.377 W 110.467 6477.096 U 07:39:30 47.174 N 108.292 W 112.190 6478.866 U 07:39:40 47.037 N 107.213 W 114.170 6480.898 U 07:39:50 46.888 N 106.140 W 116.408 6483.190 U 07:40:00 46.729 N 105.075 W 118.901 6485.743 U 07:40:10 46.559 N 104.017 W 121.651 6488.556 U ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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