Hi All,
Well, it's that time of year again. The return of Superbird A
(#20040) to regions on earth well-populated by Seesat members.
Presently, western Europe and Africa are positioned for roughly
6 minutes of flashes each night around 3:05 UT, the exact time
depending on your location. Some good locations from which to
view flashes currently are South Africa, Morocco (and really
any of western Africa), Portugal, Spain, France, Italy,
Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, the U.K. and Ireland.
Flashes may also be visible from western Austria and south-
western Germany. Unfortunately, morning twilight currently
prevents visibility in Scandinavian countries. (Sorry Bjoern!)
Here are some approximate times for peak flashes in a few
selected locations for Wednesday morning, August 16th:
3:00 - 3:04 Morocco
3:04 - 3:09 Spain and Portugal
3:12 Paris
3:13 London; Italy and Switzerland
3:14 Edinburgh; Belgium, western Austria & Germany,
Netherlands
(Times are UT). Flash location is in Eridanus near RA 4h 32m,
Dec -5.5 degrees. Nearest bright star is nu Eridani, mag 3.93.
This satellite hasn't been observed in several months, so the
usual caveats about the time accuracy apply. I'm guessing the
flash peak should be within +/- 10 minutes of these times.
Once it has been "recovered," I can improve future predictions
for Europe/Africa to 1-minute accuracy.
If you observe Superbird, please try to note the approximate time
(to within a couple minutes) of the peak of its flashes. You can
expect peak flashes of at least 3rd magnitude, perhaps brighter.
If you are an experienced Superbird observer, the approximate
time of the phase transition (to within a minute) is even better.
For Superbird newbies, if you pay close attention to the
satellite's flashes, there are odd and even flashes. If the
odd flashes are the brighter ones prior to the peak, the even
ones will be the brighter ones afterward (and vice versa).
Around the time of the peak, both odd and even flashes are
about the same brightness.
Whenever that peak should occur, you can expect it to be about
1 minute later each subsequent night. Start looking early to
familiarize yourself with the stars in Eridanus (not one of
the more recognizable constellations). Good luck! --Rob
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Aug 15 2000 - 15:42:18 PDT