Kent Yeglin wrote: >The only sat that fits the observed position is Aussat K2 >(85-109C, 16275). I haven't seen any references to any of >the Aussats flashing, so I'm doubful that's what I saw. As I see Tony just wrote, Findsat yields very tiny time and positional residuals for this object for all three positions, and no other known flashing geosynchs very near. Here are the elements of the known ones (which are also included in the mccants.tle file): http://home.iprimus.com.au/aberesford/tle/geoflsh.txt This Aussat or Optus (called B2 on most sites and in the SSR) is a cylinder 6 meters by 2 meters, covered with solar panels, with a de-spun antenna part. The latest SSR lists its RCS as well under one square meter. It's not your typical flashing geosynch! I hope to see it, or whatever big stealthsat is tracking right beside it. I was able, with pains in the neck, to find ASC 1 (85-076C, 15994) and observed it from 4:53:46 to 5:31:36, when our nightly low clouds began arriving (and time was up anyway on my session). I was reminded why it's such a pain in the neck. Its flash period is about 151 seconds (I guess.), but it does not flash at every expected time. I saw three flashes and then none. Then after 15 minutes I tried again, and there it was again. The brightest flash was possibly +1 mag. PPAS: 85- 76 C 04-05-20 05:31:36 EC 2270.0 0.3 15 151.33 +1.5->inv What PPAs numbers mean: http://users.skynet.be/satimage/bwgs/ppasformat.txt I also observed Gorizont 13 (17083), which wasn't quite as bright from here this time -- not so well placed, fairly low in the WSW: 86- 90 A 04-05-20 04:37:45 EC 861.1 0.3 10 86.11 +4.5->inv FWIW, here are the known (plus maybe a couple of suspected) flashing, drifting (mostly former) geosynchs for which I had Highfly predictions for earlier tonight (May 20 UTC); I only managed to try to see four of them this session: Cat # COSPAR. Common Name ----- ------- -------------------- 14985 84-049A Chinasat 5 15677 85-035A GStar 1 15946 85-070A Raduga 16 15994 85-076C ASC 1 -- seen 16101 85-087A Intelsat 501 17083 86-090A Gorizont 13 -- seen 17969 87-040A Gorizont 14 18631 87-100A Raduga 21 18951 88-018A Spacenet 3R 19017 88-028A Gorizont 15 19217 88-051C PAS 1 19397 88-071A Gorizont 16 -- not seen 19483 88-081A GStar 3 19919 89-027A Tele-X 20066 89-046A USA 39 (DMSP B14-1) -- seen (not easy in 8x42) 20168 89-062A TVSat 2 20705 90-063A TDF 2 20771 90-077A Yuri 3A 21668 91-060A Yuri 3B 22907 93-072A Gorizont 29 22927 93-077A Telstar 401 23267 94-060A Cosmos 2291 23670 95-049A Telstar 402R One "problem" with summer nights here is that LEO satellites continue (some fainter ones at least) right on through midnight, thus they greatly encroach upon time for observing flashing geosynchs. I had a prediction for USA 136 Centaur Rk (97-068B, 25035) with one of Björn's elsets. I looked for it around the predicted time (had some cloud interference) but didn't try to really search for it for a long time. Didn't see it. Managed to see NOSS 2-3 trio (96-029 C, D, E) in spite of clouds along much of their track. The clouds went away for a long time after that. Thank you again very much to those who provide positional obs on many fun satellites! IRS-P2 (94-068A, 23323) did at least one very bright flash, on a pass in the west. So did Orion 3 (99-024A, 25727), in the southwest. Cosmos 2389 Rk (27437): 02- 26 B 04-05-20 03:12:41 EC 114.9 1.3 8 14.4 BCRC site: 30.315N, 97.866W, 280m. Comet NEAT 2001 Q4 seemed a little fainter. I saw a very fast-flying eastbound jet that did not make any sound that I could hear. It had ordinary running lights. About the fastest one I can remember. Lots of airplanes fly over BCRC every session; a few of them illuminate the site with their strobes or headlights occasionally. Sorry for the digression... Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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