Around 10:30 UT on 28 August 2000 both objects from this launch made a pass where each would be visible at the same time in the field of view of my 8" telescope. The elsets used and NORAD numbers are those currently used by USSPACECOM. Unresolved at this point is whether the identity is incorrect. Elsets used at the end of this message. At about 10:32 UT #26476 (rocket?) came in at the top of the field of view. It was around magnitude 10 and seemed steady in brightness. Soon thereafter the supposed payload (#26475) cam in a little lower. It was 0.5 to 1.0 magnitudes brighter than #26476. Soon a cloud intervened so I had to reposition to a point farther east. About 10:49 UT #26476 comes into the field of view. I tracked for a bit and may have seen a slight fluctuation. #26475 was then picked up and a new pattern emerged. It remained a near constant brightness for a lengthy time then dimmed for a few seconds, followed by a sharp flash, another dimming for a few seconds then back to the normal brightness. The flash allowed more accurate timing of the period which I recorded at 40.4 seconds (+/- 0.2 sec). The faint period was to invisibility. I normally don't pay much attention to the n-dot term but this analysis by Harro makes sense to me. The apogee of the "payload" object (#26475) is decreasing with each new elset. These objects make at evening pass for the USA that others may wish to observe to confirm my obs. I am certain of the period of the object #26475. Still at question is whether #26476 exhibits some variation in brightness. If it does, it is subtle unlike the obvious change in brightness of #26475. DM-F3 20618 x 188 km 1 26475U 00048A 00240.36785801 .00111621 67413-6 26363-2 0 116 2 26475 27.6330 308.9746 6087038 177.5210 188.1665 3.99400636 150 DM-F3 Delta 3 r 20637 x 186 km 1 26476U 00048B 00239.11586436 .00003254 77957-6 84746-4 0 73 2 26476 27.6082 309.1530 6090299 176.5940 191.2062 3.99105841 102 Ron Lee ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Aug 28 2000 - 09:06:31 PDT