Re: Disappointed in Iridium 28!

From: Thomas A. Troszak (tom@bullhammer.com)
Date: Tue Oct 24 2000 - 06:29:40 PDT

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    Dear Stella,
    
    The "visibility corridor" of the flares varies depending on the angle,
    that is, if the flare is predicted to be nearly overhead, like 60 deg.
    or higher, the corridor can be quite narrow, on the order of 1.0 km. 
    You need to be within 1/2 mi of the path to consistently see the high,
    bright ones.  If the flare is predicted to be lower, like 30deg. East,
    with the sun at your back in the evening, you can see flares of lower
    magnitude quite clearly, over a 5 or 10 km deviation from the path. 
    Keep trying, and get your location coordinates exactly spot-on before
    running the predictions.  Even with a topo map, it can be difficult to
    get within 1 km of the exact path, but well worth the effort.  The
    easiest way is to refine your location exactly, then wait for the
    "window" when a bright flare is predicted for your location. Look for
    predictions of 1.5 km or less from your location.
    -- 
    Tom Troszak,
    Asheville, NC, USA
    35.601 N, -82.554 W
    mailto:tom@bullhammer.com
    
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