Re: Estimating Magnitude

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On Fri, 29 Aug 1997 JRBURCA@aol.com wrote:
> I'm curious as to how magnitudes of satellites are judged.  Is this
> just knowing magnitudes of stars and then comparing?  I would
> like some advice from those who think they estimate magnitudes
> fairly well.

I have maps with magnitudes of all stars noted on them.  I'll compare a 
sat to nearby stars. If sat seems midway in brightness between stars of 
mag 6.0 and 7.0, I note it as mag 6.5.  If closer to the brighter star, 
note it as mag 6.3. If barely dimmer than the brighter star, note it as 
mag 6.1.  If sat looks just as bright as a particular star, then note it 
as having same mag.

Does that help?

Jay Respler
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              JRespler@InJersey.com  
    Satellite Tracker * Early Typewriter Collector
               Freehold, New Jersey

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