Hi again, At first, I want to say that I had only 10 minutes to take my messages and get prepared for this observation. It has been raining here for a week and was too busy to read my messages everyday. Miraculously, the skies cleared in the area of the rocket trajectory and I remembered 10 minutes before launch that there was a Titan 4 launch tonight and rushed to be ready on time. I've not been able to run pass predictions with Ted's elsets because I was too short on time but relied on my estimate of Az and elevation based on my Shuttle launch obs in Washington in 2001. It worked ! I spotted a fast moving light coming from the southwest at about mag 1. It looked like the ISS but faster. No plume was visible with my 20x80. Then, at about 00:59:15 UTC, a triangular plume emerged from behind the dot of light. There was an interruption in the plume as it took a more linear shape. Then I saw two jets projected at about a 100 degree angle between them and directed forward. These two jets were, for me, a separation manoeuvre designed to slow the rocket stage. Soon after, I could resolve two identical dots of light. I presume they were the rocket stage and the payload. They were identical in colour and magnitude. Colour was quite white. I followed the objects with my 20x80 while Lucille was watching at 1x and with her 8x40. The fuel venting and exhaust plumes were short lived but were amazing to see expanding rapidly. I was too unprepared for accurate timings and positions but was thrilled to see my second live spacecraft separation. Dan -- Daniel Deak Webmestre, site Obsat L'Avenir, Quebec COSPAR site 1747 : 45.7275°N, 72.3526°W, 191 m., UTC-5:00 Site en francais sur les satellites: French-language satellite web site : http://www.obsat.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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