Tiros 1 - 40th anniversary

From: richard.keen@kingsmarket.com
Date: Sun Apr 02 2000 - 21:55:47 PDT

  • Next message: Matthew_Fawcett@eastriding.gov.uk: "Orbiting Antiques ....."

                                      
     Hi all -
     Last night being the 40th anniversary of the launch of the
    world's first weather satellite, Tiros 1, I decided to celebrate
    by observing this object.  So, I ran Quicksat (predictions
    below), set up my 12-inch reflector pointed at the appointed
    spot, and there it was.  Being a meteorologist who remembers the
    day when the first images were beamed down, this was a special
    sighting!
     I then noticed that another oldie, Telstar 1, was due an hour
    later.  So, once again, with the help of Quicksat and the 12-
    inch, there it was - this time with the tunes of the instrumental
    "Telstar" (by a group called the Tornadoes) rolling through my
    head.
     As someone on this list called them, these "orbiting antiques"
    are a thrill to follow!
     By the way, to keep the information content of these messages up
    to par, I made some magnitude estimates:
     Tiros 1 was mag. 8.7; Telstar 1 was 10.8.
     2000 Apr 2  SunUT214 1156
     H  M  S  Al AziC Dir  Mag Dys  Hgt Shd  Rng  R A  Dec Name
     2 51 21  41 141C 271  7.7   4  412 110  591 1025 -1.8 Tiros 1
     3 58 38  52 132C 271 11.0   4 32681491 3693 1132 10.3 Telstar 1
     cheers, Rich Keen
     Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado, USA (39.877N, 105.391W, elev 2728m)
     
    
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