Björn Gimle wrote: > There is a tool, IDsat by Ted Molczan, which tells you all > objects close enough in time and position to one given > position (RA and declination) But this gives no clue to the > direction of motion IDSat provides two indications of direction of motion. The most useful is called FE, which means Field Entry, which is the position angle at which the object would enter the field of view in non-inverting optics. For example, FE = 3, means that the object entered from the 3 o'clock position, which is the exact right of the field of view. The other, less useful indicator, is the azimuth of the object's direction of travel. Azimuth is difficult to judge with precision, but you can at least distinguish between northbound and southbound objects. That said, IDSat is most useful when an object's position has been accurately determined and timed, say, within a degree or two, and a few seconds. It works great for positional observers, who routinely measure positions to within 0.03 deg, and times to within 0.1 s. > so I prefer using my favourite prediction program, SkyMap by Rob Matson (see > http://www.satobs.org/orbsoft.html) Graphical programs like Skymap are ideal when position and time are only roughly known. In the case of a reasonably bright object, Heavens-Above often will reveal it too. Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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