Re: Perseid/Stellafane/NOSS FAQ

Sue J. Worden (worden@uts.cc.utexas.edu)
Mon, 19 Aug 1996 18:54:08 -0500 (CDT)

> Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 10:57:51 -0400
> From: dk058@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Walter Nissen)
> To: seesat-l@iris01.plasma.mpe-garching.mpg.de
> Subject: Perseid/Stellafane/NOSS FAQ
> [ ... ]
> I think I should have titled my message Perseid/Stellafane/NOSS FAQ.  The 
> point being that with 3 NOSS triplets now in orbit, there is an increased 
> likelihood that unprepared observers will catch sight of them.  During 
> Perseid "week" there are hordes of these potential observers.

My initial reaction is that this isn't something that belongs in the
FAQ, aside from the already-planned discussion of the NOSS triads in
section 10.3.

As I understand it, you're interested in maybe publicizing NOSS passes
during the annual Perseids meteor shower.  To extend this idea, perhaps
we should consider publicizing all naked-eye-visible passes of certain
"visually interesting" satellites during that time period.

I foresee major logistics problems in trying to do this, but it's not
an impossible task.  E.g., decide on a list of satellites to include,
collect a list of Perseids gatherings throughout the world with email
address of contact person for each who would be responsible for local
publicity, generate predictions for those sites, and distribute site-
specific predictions to the contacts.

Am I following you?

This is not a task I am willing to undertake, having something of an
overfull platter already.  But since it's your idea, I think you'd
be the logical choice anyway to organize this.  If you're willing,
I'm sure other members of this list could be persuaded to help with
various aspects, especially in forwarding information about Perseids
gatherings in their own local areas.

--Sue (worden@uts.cc.utexas.edu)