Newcomers to our list probably are curious about the many messages that consist mostly of long series of numbers. Positional observations, flash period timings, and orbital elements account for most such messages. To communicate more clearly, I propose that we regularly include links to web pages that explain and describe the format of data in posts that are mainly numerical. 1. Positional Observations Positional observations probably account for the majority of numerical posts. I have produced several new web pages, which identify and describe the three common reporting formats. The following page shows examples of the formats: http://www.satobs.org/position/posn_formats.html and includes links to detailed descriptions of them: I.O.D. Format: http://www.satobs.org/position/IODformat.html U.K. Format: http://www.satobs.org/position/UKformat.html R.D.E. Format: http://www.satobs.org/position/RDEformat.html I report observations in the IOD format, so from now on, I will include a link to its description, for example: What these numbers mean: http://www.satobs.org/position/IODformat.html I encourage other positional observers to consider doing likewise. 2. Flash Period Observations Here is an example of a flash period report: http://satobs.org/seesat/Apr-2004/0239.html A detailed description of the format already exists on our web site: http://www.satobs.org/tumble/flashpm.html#PPASformat It would be a simple matter to include this URL in flash reports. 3. Orbital Elements Here is an example of a message containing orbital element sets: http://satobs.org/seesat/Mar-2004/0274.html The following web page describes their format: http://www.satobs.org/element.html Ted Molczan Admin, SeeSat-L ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat May 08 2004 - 23:26:55 EDT