Fco. Javier Iruretagoyena wrote: > I have seen an excellent pass of USA 129 a few minutes ago. The satellite > made a flash with amegnitude of -1. this is the first flash that i have seen > of this satellite. Is this frequent? Can we predict it? I have seen USA 129 flash to mag -1 or -2. If I recall correctly, it was a high pass close to the zenith, near perigee (the sat was moving very fast) and at dusk. I am guessing that at certain angles the body of the telescope tube will cause a flash. This artist's impression gives an idea of the surface area available for reflecting sunlight: http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/images/kh-12-bush2.jpg Best wishes Bruce ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Aug 16 2005 - 06:38:47 EDT