Re: The MMTO Camera

From: GlocalNet (bg_26934@glocalnet.net)
Date: Wed Aug 22 2007 - 06:45:31 EDT

  • Next message: daniel crawford: "Re: The MMTO Camera"

    I am surprised by the number of satellites seen - more than I would see at 
    1-power?
    The first three I set out to identify, 20:58 below theta Aql (a CZ-3A),
    01:28 flaring in square of Peg (Milstar 3) and 03:38 Cas to Ari (Lacrosse 4) 
    were really easy.
    A bright one is visible 21:27:28 to 21:34:35
    USA 186 is seen only in two images(?) 22:15
    
    Since they show a systematic motion in consecutive images they are
    not meteors (00:34 looks like a Perseid fireball though).
    Of course they might be birds/balloons (but not enough lighting on them?)
    or aircraft (23:30?), but the ones that flare or vary considerably are 
    certain.
    
    Lacrosse 4 was almost steady from horizon to horizon.
    I am intrigued by the number of sats hours around  midnight!
    
    I concur with the +6 mag star limit, but since a satellite moves
    only a few pixels in 10 seconds in a fish-eye view, the mag loss is
    not as significant as in a normal or telephoto/CCD image.
    The CZ-3A moved about 60 pixels in 120 seconds around
    culmination, ie 5 pixels/image, so the magnitude loss might be
    only 1.5 mag at this speed (10 deg/min)
    
    I am eager to see how many GEOs it will capture in the flaring geosat season 
    late Sep-early Oct !
    
    /Björn
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    ...
    >>
    >>Here is a link to the evening/morning of 12-13 August (local).  Just
    >>how many satellites can a person see?  (how about meteors?)
    >>
    >>http://skycam.mmto.arizona.edu/skycam/20070812/night_movie.avi
    ...
    > the co-ordinates of the MMT observatory from the Astronomical
    > Alanac are: latitude 31deg 41.3 minutes , longitude 110 degrees 53.1 W
    > and height 2608 meters
    
    
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