Hi Karl, Assuming that you observed April 5 night I actually found a configuration that may perfectly explain your strange sighting at 19h15.6m UT. Initially you were following object 1998-023B which descended from Epsilon to Zeta UMa according to your observation. It was Globalstar M006 , a flashing satellite which currently has a 18s rotation period. You must have lost it visually at its minimum brightness, just when another satellite, 1992-093AV, faster and located a little below, crossed its trajectory a bit under Zeta UMa, in moving from left to right. The "visual substitution" must have occurred around 19h15m38s UT. The inclination of the Globalstar is 52 ° and that of the other satellite 70.7 ° which produced an angular configuration like the one you indicated in the sketch you sent me. The second satellite, 1992-093AV , is a debris from the disintegration of Cosmos 2227 rocket (1992-093B) ; it was a much faster satellite (altitude = 744 km) than the Globalstar one (altitude = 1883 km). Consequently the visual effect must have been striking because of the "apparent acceleration" undergone by the object that you were initially following. Regards Alain Figer 48.67 N ; 2.13 E ; 170m a.s.l. 44.57 N ; 6.68 E ; 1850m a.s.l. Le lun. 5 avr. 2021 à 23:00, Karl Antier via Seesat-l <seesat-l_at_satobs.org> a écrit : > Dear all, > > I have a question, which may look dumb, but I must admit I never saw > that before... > I was smoking a cigarette outside, in Montfuron (France : 43.838° N, > 5.696° E), when I saw what looks like a satellite in the Big Dipper tail > tens of seconds before 19h15 UT. I wondered if it could be a Starlink, > seen its magnitude (+3.5 to +4.0), but I very fast realized it was far > too slow to be one. But gazing at it, I suddenly had the impression its > trajectory curbed and took a nearly 70° angle without really changing > its magnitude, before disappearing... (see attached picture if allowed > on the list) > I must admit I did not understand at all what it could be. I wasn't > drunk or drugged, I am observing the sky as an astronomer for 25 years > now, I have seen strange things (NOSS triangle formations, etc.), but > all of them found an explanation... For tens of minutes, I could not > find any, so I realized I had observed the first real extraterrestrial > shuttle!!! ;-) > > But a few minutes later, I checked on Stellarium, and realized there > were 2 GlobalStar satellites (M060 and M006) which seems to pass in the > Big Dipper Tail, with the two trajectories (before and after the curb) I > observed. On the model, there are not exactly passing at the same place > at the same time (which must have been the case to explain what I > observed), but I was wondering if you had a guess on the timing accuracy > of such satellites predictions? > > Thanks in advance for your answers! > Best regards, > karl > > > _______________________________________________ > Seesat-l mailing list > http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l > _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-lReceived on Fri Apr 09 2021 - 03:18:07 UTC
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