Night of flashing geosynchs

From: Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 03 2003 - 05:45:32 EST

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    Very pretty night, if a bit chilly for around here.  
    With my handheld 10x50s (often steadied with elbows on 
    top of a low shed that once housed a 12.5-inch telescope), 
    I was able to see the following flashing geosynchs:
    
    84-114A, 15385, Spacenet 2; 2:50 to 3:33 January 3 UTC
    brightest flashes at least +5; for a while visible every 
    96.5 seconds, then only every 193 seconds
    
    89-046A, 20066, USA 39 (presumed to be a DSP); just a few 
    clicks, not easy, 3:55 to 3:57 and a few about 15 minutes 
    later; brightest about +7.5(?)
    
    89-041A, 20040, Superbird A0; 3:59 to 4:06 UTC
    half a dozen flashes seen without binoculars, about +3.5 
    to +4.0(?), every 11.3 or 22.6 seconds
    
    91-046A, 21533, Gorizont 23; 4:17 to 4:29 UTC
    brightest flashes about +6, every 55.8 seconds
    
    87-040A, 17969, Gorizont 14; 4:32 to 4:49 UTC
    brightest flashes at least +4.5, every 87 seconds; from a
    rural site might have been visible without binoculars
    
    All above from BCRC, 30.315N, 97.866W, 280m.
    
    85-087A, 16101, Intelsat 512; 8:28 to 8:40 UTC
    brightest possibly +3.5, but seen from outside my
    apartment (very light polluted, 30.309N, 97.728W, 150m), 
    every 17.1 seconds
    
    Saw a bunch of LEOs also!
    
    From BCRC tried unsuccessfully to see flashing geosynchs
    Insat 2D (24820), Eutelsat 2 (15158, not yet confirmed?), 
    Spacenet 3R (18951), Cosmos 2282 (23168), and briefly, 
    because they all were within my FOV, GSTAR 1 (15677), 
    GSTAR 3 (19483), and ASC 1 (15994).
    
    Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA
    
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