Re: Other Satellite ID
J. Donald Gardner (fn470@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Mon, 29 Dec 1997 01:11:50 -0500 (EST)
Reply to message from finn@main.jetnet.ab.ca of Sun, 28 Dec
>it as ERBS later on. However when i tried to spot COBE (with no luck) i
>happened to look straight north and saw a bright flare inside the cup of the
>Big Dipper. It lasted for a few seconds and then it disappeared. The
>direction of travel was from the north to the south-east at 00:39 UTC. I
>tried to ID it but no luck, nothing came close, not even any Iridiums.
There would seem to be about 4 possibilities:
14360 (81053HV) which look like debris
20046 (89042B) A rocket booster for Cosmos 2026
03841 (69010C) Another rocket booster perhaps
..and my personal favorite
24297 (96051A) Cosmos 2333
The first two match your direction of travel better than
the last two.
About 2 months ago I noted a short flare from a Cosmos satellite.
My notes are long gone but it was a relatively high pass through
Cassiopeia. The sat flared to about a 1 Mag for about 3-5 seconds.
It was probably Cosmos 2344 (24827), Cosmos 2335 (24670), or
Cosmos 2242. The flare reminded me of the DMSP flares that I observed
last summer.
Cheers.
--
Don Gardner
Homepage - http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/9787/
76.8419 W, 39.1796 N, 37m ASL