Re: Unidentified Lunar Transit
Jim Varney (jamesv@softcom.net)
Mon, 5 Jul 1999 14:27:55 -0700
On 5 Jul 99, Brian Webb wrote:
>
> About a week ago I was looking at the contrast differences on the full Moon
> through my 8-inch (20 cm) telescope. I was using a magnification of 51 times.
>
> Thus far I've been unable to identify it. Perhaps a fellow See-Sat member could
> help me to identify it. Here are the specifics of my observation:
>
> Date (UTC): 1999 June 27
> Time of Lunar Disk Mid-Transit (UTC): 04:31:40
> Observing Site: Lat: 34.3042 N, Long.: 118.8419 W, Elevation: 175 meters
I ran SkyMap with Allen Thomson's TLE file from June 25. Nothing shown
through the center of the disk. The closest candidate was
IntID/Name CatNo Source period Incl Apogee Perigee RCS
------------ ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- --------
1981-053BW 12729 CIS 106.5 83.1 1165 963 0.1022
COSMOS 1275 DEB Launched (1981/06/04)
This missed by one lunar disk at about 4:30:43. RCS seems too small to be
it.
-- Jim
__________________________________________________________
Jim Varney -121.398 W, 38.457 N, 10m
Member, Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society
Sacramento Space Page www.softcom.net/users/jamesv