Obs 970103 + Iridium 27
Leo Barhorst (leobarhorst@wxs.nl)
Sat, 03 Jan 1998 10:15:07 +0100
Just two obs before clouds moved in again and an old one.
94- 41 B 98-01-03 04:41:42 LB 110.0 0.5 4 27.5 AA, mag 4->inv
95- 58 B 98-01-03 04:47:42 LB 123.9 1.0 2 62.0 MM, mag 4->inv
97- 51 D 98-01-01 17:20:34 LB 24.2 0.2 7 3.46 Ff, mag 3(5)->inv
The period of 94- 41 B is in fact the mean of two periods.
I timed: 28.25 26.22 28.93 26.60 sec.
This gives 28.59 and 26.41 sec with a mean of 27.50 sec.
The once spectacular flasher 95- 58 B has now slowed down to more
than a minute. Could just measure one period before shadowentry.
In my message of Jan 1st I mentioned the observation of a UNID.
Running Skymap with the Alldat.tle file from dec 29th the only
candidate is 97- 51 D Iridium 27, that was left in its parking
orbit at 560 km after the sat malfunctioned. Probably it is also
tumbling now, as I saw it with alternate flashes of mag 3 and 5;
and invisible in between. It was a low northbound pass in te east.
--
Greetings and clear skies
Leo Barhorst Alkmaar The Netherlands
52.65 North 4.47 East 3 m ASL
Every day I wonder about what I see in the sky