I received a report of something flashing on the morning of Nov. 18 (Leonid maximum). The person was in California, and the best candidate seems to be an Ariane 5 Sylda 5, 26109, 00-016C (Ariane 505, launched March 21, 2000). The question is whether one of those could flash to +3.5 at a range of about 24,000 km. The RCS is pretty big, around 37 square meters, plus or minus. This page has dimensions and a photo: http://arianespace.com/launcher_5_payloads1.html It's a dark cylinder 4 meters by 3.0 to 4.4 meters (depending on the configuration for the particular launch), but it appears to be shiny. It also may have a flat surface. The observer was at 34.22N, 119.10W (altitude uncertain -- foothills of the Sierra Nevada, perhaps 500 to 1,000 meters). The time as about 9:17 on Nov 18, UTC. The position reported was approximately RA 07h 40m and Dec -12. The person says that he only saw two flashes and tried to point a 6" (152 mm) telescope at it but that it didn't flash any more. This sylda seemed to be the best candidate, but I don't know if it's possible for one to flash that brightly at that range. He mentioned that he's seen geosynchs before in his 14" (356 mm) scope. ***** In a couple of recent messages I forgot to mention that I was able to see some pretty good (+3.5) one-power Superbird A flashes on two different nights, the second one with it only 20 degrees above the WSW horizon (which is a good direction from the BCRC observing site). Thanks Rob for letting us know when to look for it! Doesn't appear that the weather will cooperate for STS-97 observing this morning, but I plan to try.... Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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