proposed: Orientation Format
Walter Nissen (dk058@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Tue, 13 Aug 1996 21:00:32 -0400
I have made some important changes in the details of the format which I
propose for reporting orientation (of tethers). As noted by Ted Molczan,
a window of morning visibility of TiPS is just opening for mid-northern
observers. This is the updated version (ver 0.1), submitted for your
comments and your use until improved.
I suggest this convention. Assume that the observer is able to
distinguish Ralph from Norton. If the orientation is, e.g.:
n n R n
| \ | /
| \ n--------R | R---------n /
| \ | /
| \ | /
R R n R
then the vertex angle is:
0 45 90 180 270 330
and the observer should report a vertex angle between 0 and 359.99
degrees. I.e., the vertex angle (see appendix) of Norton with respect to
Ralph, i.e, the angle measured counter-clockwise from directly above.
If the observer cannot distinguish Ralph from Norton, then the angle reported
should be a vertex angle, determined in the same way, between 0 and 179.99
degrees.
Modelled after PPAS, I suggest this format:
Walter I. Nissen, Jr., CDP, dk058@cleveland.freenet.edu, 55 Barrett RD #808,
Berea, OH 44017-1657, USA, 216-243-4980, -81d 51.823', 41d 22.413', 256m, 7x35
yy-lllpp yy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ss NNN d->d al v.a UML m1 sp RN Comments
96- 29 ? 96-07-11 4:43 WN N->S 50 140?LML 6 xx steady angle
Walter I. Nissen, Jr., CDP, dk058@cleveland.freenet.edu, 55 Barrett RD #808,
Berea, OH 44017-1657, USA, 216-243-4980, -81d 51.823', 41d 22.413', 256m, 11x80
yy-lllpp yy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ss NNN d->d al v.a UML m1 sp RN Comments
96- 29 ? 96-07-12 3:35 WN N->S 65 45?LML xx TiPS
96- 29 ? 96-07-12 3:38 WN N->S 40 45?LML xx TiPS
96- 29 ? 96-07-16 2:39:30 WN N->S 40 0 V 5 xx TiPS
96- 29 ? 96-07-16 2:40:30 WN N->S 30 0 V xx TiPS
96- 29 ? 96-07-21 2:18:52.08 WN N->S 57 150 LML xx TiPS
96- 29 ? 96-07-21 2:24:39.53 WN N->S 14 175 LML xx TiPS
96- 29 ? 96-07-23 1:50:00 WN N->S 58 sp? TiPS
96- 29 ? 96-07-23 1:51:30 WN N->S 46 10 UML xx TiPS
96- 29 ? 96-07-23 1:53:30 WN N->S 28 5 UML xx TiPS
The pp is the piece number in the COSPAR ID (apparently no agreement for
TiPS yet)
UTC date and time are given (give local time and zone also if your clocks are
not set to UTC, or if you have any doubt about the conversion)
NNN is the observer's initials (from PPAS)
al is the altitude, if the al's you provide don't suggest the maximum
you are encouraged to provide a record to give the max altitude
d->d is the direction of motion
v.a is the vertex angle (norton above = 0, norton left = 90, etc.)
UML is Upper Mass Leading, Lower Mass Leading or Vertical
m1 is total visual magnitude
sp is blank if no sparkles are observed, sp if 1-5 are observed,
SP if more than 5 are observed
RN is blank if the orientation could not be observed, xx if Ralph could not
be distinguished from Norton, and RN if it could.
mag is image magnification
apur is aperature in mm
Comments are encouraged to run into paragraphs if you have things to say
Some possible improvements to the format:
azimuth could be given
left->right could be given
sp could be count of sparkles
length could be given in minutes of arc
RN could be a single column
vvv.vv format could be used for vertex angle (i.e., fractional degrees of
angle)
The dashes(-) in the date and the colons(:) in the time are an unnecessary
affectation.
Cheers.
Walter Nissen dk058@cleveland.freenet.edu
---
Lightness has its place -- Giverny. Look into it.