Folks- I am part of a group that runs a remotely-operated telescope near Santa Rosa, CA. While taking routine observations of the spiral galaxy M51, an object passed through our field of view. It pulsed rapidly (at least twice/second), and was pretty faint (each pulse was roughly 17th magnitude). We're baffled as to what this might be, so I am pleading to the group to see if anyone can figure it out. I have placed the particulars for the observation along with images at http://universe.sonoma.edu/~phil/m51streak.html. I will also print them below. Please let me know if there is some important data I didn't give you. I plan on putting this up on our official observatory page if we can identify it. I'll be happy to give credit to whoever figures this out, too! Date: August 4, 2005 Start Time: 06:08:01 (UT) Observatory location: 30 miles northeast of Santa Rosa, CA Latitude: 38d 33' 55'' Longitude: 121d 41' 15'' Elevation above sea level: 1099 ft = 335 m Celestial coords of center of M51 (very close to center of streak): RA = 13d 30 m, Dec = +47d 10m The streak is at an angle of approximately 35 degrees west of north, so the object was traveling either NNW (azimuth=325) or SSE (azimuth=145). Thanks! -Phil Plait ******************************************** Phil Plait NASA/EPO Education Resource Director (NERD) (707) 664-2190 phil@universe.sonoma.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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