RE: Unidentified Lunar Transit

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Hi Brian,

> 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.

> I noticed a tiny black speck moveing across the Moon and thought at first
that
> it was an aircraft or a bird. The object was very tiny, but I could see an
> outline and it was slowly tumbling.

Possibly a balloon (though a balloon going south to north is unlikely).
More likely a bird.  Even at high magnification, only the lowest and
largest satellites are going to be resolvable.  As Jim Varney posted,
the closest candidate was Cosmos 1275 Deb BW -- which was going primarily
northbound.

> 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
> Object's Direction of Travel: South to north, through the center of the
>   Moon's disk
> Moon's Position: Azimuth: 146.2 deg.; Elevation: 29.5 deg.

Based on your observing site coordinates, I show the moon at
azimuth 145.3, elevation 28.6 -- not that much of a difference,
but it ~is~ more than the error in C1275 Deb BW's crosstrack
position relative to the moon.

Cheers,
Rob

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