> > 2. Select a recognizable, findable asterism very near the > position of Superbird A at the estimated flashing event > time, as a place to watch for the flashes to appear. > ... > > 7. Any thoughts from others who've watched it? > 2. If you have a mount to fix your binoculars, or a chance to find an observation spot where you have a rooftop or treetop as reference in the correct alt/az, use it ! S-A moves very little in alt/az during a night, so you can find a suitable asterism (at the correct declination) in the same alt/az ANY time before the expected flash time. If your prediction says S-A will flash at RA 02:00 decl. -9, you could locate theta Ceti (at 01:36 -8.1) 24 minutes before the flash time, and find your landmark/binocular position one degree below theta. 7. As always for a stable flasher : the location(s) of flashes are quite stable in RA/Dec - the largest motion is the +0:04 (apparent) daily RA motion of the Sun, causing the flashes to move -0:04/day in RA. The "only" complication can be the inclination of the satellite track vs. the "inclination" of the flash paths. However, S-A flashes travel at nearly right angles to the satellite's RA/dec motion, so this parallax is very small. (Since S-A is five minutes later each day at a given RA, the net effect is about one minute like Ed said) So, if Ed observed the brightest flashes at RA 02:06 dec -7.9 on Dec.02 (UTC), expect them near RA 01:58 dec -8.2 (because of track inclination) tonight, Dec.04 UTC. NB : The flashes start several minutes before it reaches this point ! Six degrees further N (lat 36N) S-A would flash a degree lower in declination, but at roughly the same RA. So, just run your predictions, or look at Ed's, to determine when S-A is close to the predicted RA/dec, (and what asterism you can use to locate the spot ahead of time). /Björn (I HAVE seen it in early October from Stockholm) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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