SDS 3F5 Centaur very fast perigee passes

From: C. Bassa via Seesat-l <seesat-l_at_satobs.org>
Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2021 09:15:48 +0200
Hi all,

Object 32379/07060B, the Atlas 5 Centaur upper stage that launched SDS
3F5 into a Molniya orbit is currently in a 254 km by 14200 km orbit
with its perigee placed around latitude 52 deg North near the evening
terminator. This means that the upper stage is visible near perigee
when it is moving at 9.5 km/s. This is at least 1.5 km/s faster than
other LEO objects.

Last night, my camera pointing towards 30 deg azimuth, 30 deg
elevation caught the Centaur moving through the entire 7 deg
field-of-view within a single 10 second exposure at a whopping speed
of a degree per second!

For European observers, favorable passes are predicted for April 3rd,
with shadow entry at 19:54:52UTC, April 5th with shadow entry at
20:09:59UTC, and for April 7th, 20:24:52UTC.  Favorable passes are
also visible for the North of the United States and Canada.

Regards,
    Cees
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Received on Fri Apr 02 2021 - 02:17:02 UTC

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