Lacrosse 5 with Varying Brightness

From: Gerhard HOLTKAMP (grd.holtkamp@t-online.de)
Date: Sun Aug 13 2006 - 16:50:24 EDT

  • Next message: Ted Molczan: "TJM obs of 2006 Aug 14 UTC"

    Just observed a Lacrosse 5 (2005-016A) pass from my position at 49.8822N, 
    8.6558E. 
    I picked it up near Psi UMa at 20:17:27 UT (13-AUG-06) at about mag 5. It 
    slowly brightened to a little less than mag 4 by the time it passed Beta UMa 
    at 20:18:21 UT. Between 20:18:33 and 20:18:50 it brightened by about half a 
    mag but I would not call this a proper flare. Then it dimmed again to below 
    mag 4 and showed a distinctly reddish color (before that it was colorless). 
    I then had to reposition my scope due to local obstacles and picked up 
    Lacrosse 5 again when it passed Gamma Cas at 20:21:05 UT by which time is was 
    slightly brighter than Gamma Cas (let's say mag 1.5). This could have been 
    part of a flare but it should have been quite bright in that part of the sky 
    anyway. Some 10 or 15 seconds after that it dimmed again rather quickly to 
    something like mag 4 or less and once again showed a reddish color. It stayed 
    like that for the rest of the pass (I followed it for another minute or so) 
    with very minute fluctuations in brightness.
    
    Gerhard HOLTKAMP
    Darmstadt, Germany
    
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