> As to the SZ-2 "module" (26687 = 01-001C), as it was rising near > Deneb > (23:16.7 UTC), it appeared between 3.5 and 4 magnitude (bad phase > angle) > but by the time (23:17.6 UTC) it sailed some 12 degrees above > Polaris, > it had become as bright as that star. I guess enough of this > satellite > "was left" in orbit to remain a naked-eye object. The "module" is an instrument package that detached from Shenzhou-2 right before the deorbit burn. It will remain in orbit for several months. I know nothing of its size. At about 23:11 UT, Jan. 11th, I saw the Shenzhou-2 (my first sighting of any of the objects in this series). (There was animals onboard by the way, so only by a technicality was it "unmanned".) At ~ 23:05 on Jan. 16th, I saw the Shenzhou-2 Rocket (CZ-2 R/B; 26665; 01001B) for the first time. Fortunately for me, I was able to see one of the very few flashers that I have seen in my life. Due to its relatively long period (26.63s, +/- 1s), I was only able to make one timing. My sky was still very bright (LM ~ +2.5), but I was able to see the tumbling rocket. At its peak brightness (and altitude), it was at 0 to -1 magnitude. What was the period of the rocket the last time someone checked (for comparison purposes) ? Do spinning objects in orbit (such as CZ-2 R/B) increase in their period of rotation, essentially, because the gravitational force (or whatever you want to call it) of the Earth has a damping effect on the spinning motion of such a satellite (I think this would be a case of the Earth's gravimetric field absorbing the rotational energy of the spinning satellite)? It's kind of hard to put this into words, but like the satellite must MOVE through the Earth's gravitational field, which (according to my hypothesis) will transfer energy (rotational energy) AWAY from the satellite? ------------------------------ Jonathan T. Wojack tlj18@juno.com 39.706d N 75.683d W http://www.geocities.com/tlj18_99/ 5 hours behind UT (-5) ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jan 18 2001 - 08:43:58 PST