Acceleration Report : 18 Dec '96 : 87-106 B, 92- 12 B

Kurt Jonckheere (kjonckheere@unicall.be)
Wed, 18 Dec 1996 22:17:56 +0100

Observations of the following objects are needed very urgently :

The following objects had a jump in Mean Motion and * MIGHT * accelerate:
21938 = 92- 20 B    18710 = 87-106 B       

The following objects had a jump in Mean Motion and ARE ACCELERATING !
21876 = 92-  8 B    21903 = 92- 12 B       

The following objects had a jump in Mean Motion and HAD ACCELERATING 
but there flashing period is are already going up again!
21984 = 92- 30 J 

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18710 = 87-106 B
The Semi major axis decreased with about 50 m between Nov 7 and Dec 5,
now it is normal again.
In September Leo Barhorst saw it with 72 seconds.
87-106 B 96-11-14 18:36      WV   51.4 3.0   1 51
87-106 B 96-11-15 19:03      WV                       LP
87-106 B 96-11-23 17:22      WV   55   3.0   1 55
Willy saw it during the acceleration.  The period is lower that what Leo
saw, but there is no *distinct* acceleration to a low period.  
During to the large period we need more observations to jump 
to conclusions.

Cosmos 1904 r    7.4  2.4  0.0  5.5 v 
1 18710U 87106B   96351.03446854 +.00000027 +00000-0 +12036-4 0 02542
2 18710 082.9111 145.1174 0027366 109.0885 251.3221 13.75192668450754

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21876 = 92-  8 B 
Evolution of the Flash Period of this rocket : 
92-  8 B 96-11-06 18:10      KJ  155.4 1.5   8 19.4   FF, 4->inv, later MM
92-  8 B 96-11-06 18:11      WV  159.4 0.5   8 19.9
92-  8 B 96-11-15 17:04      KJ  179.0 0.4  14 12.79
92-  8 B 96-11-15 17:04      WV  127.9 0.3  10 12.79
As you can see Willy confirmed my last observation VERY well !  
So this object is definitely accelerating !  Is the period still going down ?

For the moment this object is only visible for our Southern latitude
observers.  Who joins the club by making the next observation ?
Latest elements : 
Cosmos 2180 r    7.4  2.4  0.0  5.5 v
1 21876U 92008B   96350.90930232  .00000310  00000-0  31008-3 0  7788
2 21876  82.9248 279.0286 0037324  44.4556 315.9584 13.74524985242157

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21903 = 92- 12 B
The Semi major axis has been going down since November 20, 1996. 
Was seen on November 15 by Vince Gardiner with a period of 5.29 seconds.
Ron Lee finally observed it with a period of 4.9 seconds, so it is 
accelerating !
Latest elements :
92- 12 B 96-12-11 00:43.9    RGL  97.6 1.0  20  4.88  FF, mag 5->inv
92- 12 B 96-12-12 01:12:29   RGL 145.5 1.0  30  4.85  FF, mag 6->inv
92- 12 B 96-12-15 16:42:55   LB   51.1 0.5   8  6.4   AA, mag 5->7
Leo seems to have observed on a difficult pass, in comparison with Ron,
he saw this rocket only with AA, meaning round maxima i.s.o. the
distinct flashes Ron saw.  Maybe this caused the difference in the 
observations.  Who confirms this ?

Cosmos 2181 r    7.4  2.4  0.0  5.5 v
1 21903U 92012B   96350.97478635 +.00000394 +00000-0 +40287-3 0 07748
2 21903 082.9345 326.3375 0043525 068.7002 291.8775 13.73625638239196

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21938 = 92- 20 B 
92- 20 B 96-12-03 00:50.5   RGL   194.0 2.0   5 38.8   FF
92- 20 B 96-12-06 00:30.2   RGL   188.1 2.0   5 37.6   FF, 4->8
92- 20 B 96-12-12 01:32:30  RGL   213.2 3.0   6 35.55  FF, mag 6->inv

Is this rocket accelerating or not ??
Latest elements : 
Cosmos 2184 r    7.4  2.4  0.0  5.5 v
1 21938U 92020B   96350.96503528 +.00001405 +00000-0 +14659-2 0 07909
2 21938 082.9267 156.9325 0030765 191.9380 168.1064 13.74434672234288

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21984 = 92- 30 J 

Evolution of the Flash Period of this rocket : 
92- 30 J 96-12-05 01:04.9    RGL 263.1 1.0  21 12.53  FF, mag 4->8.5
92- 30 J 96-12-08 01:47.5    RGL 192.3 1.0  15 12.82  FF, mag 4->8
92- 30 J 96-12-09 01:21.9    RGL 319.9 1.0  25 12.80  FF, mag 4->8
92- 30 J 96-12-12 02:07:06   RGL 264.1 2.0  20 13.21  FF, mag 5->8
92- 30 J 96-12-13 01:39.3    RGL 522.1 1.0  40 13.05  
92- 30 J 96-12-14 17:00      KJ  208.9 0.3  16 13.06
92- 30 J 96-12-15 18:35:50   LB  260.9 0.2  20 13.05  FF, mag 5->inv
Finally Leo and I joined Ron in observing this object.  The period is
going up nicely.

Happy observing !


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       Kurt Jonckheere (kjonckheere@unicall.be)  51.2 N  2.9 E   
  Latest accelerations : http://uc2.unicall.be/kjonckheere/index.htm 
    observations collector for the Belgian Working Group Satellites: 
Send your observations of flashing satellites, preferrably in the correct
     PPAS format to obs@physics.oxford.ac.uk or obs@physics.ox.ac.uk
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