At 19:11 20/04/01 , Kevin Fetter wrote: > > >Thanks for the information on other geo sat flashers. > >I know what time now to go and observe superbird A. >Does anyone know the approx times I should look for to see the other geo >sat flashing. Kevin, SuperbirdA has particular charecteristics which restrict its flashes to near 3h UT ( which is 12:15 local meam time for myself). Apart from rob matson's continued work in keeping the spin axis known, the only other flasher whose spin axis has been examined as far as I know is ETS 6 , where Bjoern Gimle has been analysing it, and providing yours truly with predictions. These havent resulted in observing many flashes but the fault is probably me or the weather rather than Bjoern. When I originally observed it , the flashing periods could last for over an hour. On my last observations the flashing interval (like Superbird A )only lasted 15 minutes. To know when a particular place will see flashes requires a knowledge of the orientation of the spin axis, and the orientation of the reflecting surfaces. Such knowledge is gained thru timing of individual flashes and the transition time. Satellites whose spin axes are N-S flash for longer of course. A moderately sensitive TV camera like Greg Roberts uses, recorded on a VCR, uses pointed at the satellites postion would seem to be the most effective way to catch near geostationary flashers. Tony Beresford ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Apr 20 2001 - 03:18:09 PDT