Re: "Circular Nro.2 / MIR...Observacion"
Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Sat, 28 Jun 1997 01:01:48 -0500
Below is my rough translation of the Spanish-language report from
the Municipal Astronomical Observatory of Funes, Argentina, via
their "Achernar" Circular No. 2, regarding the decay of a presumed
Mir debris object.
>/ Observatorio Astronomico Municipal de Funes / ARGENTINA /
<....>
> obsfunes@openware.com.ar
> www.openware.com.ar/ObservatorioFunes
] Observation of the Decay of One of the Fragments from
] the Accident of the Space Station Mir
]
] On 25 June at 10:25 UT, from our FUNES site, we were able to
] see the coming in of the remains of the collision of the Space
] Station Mir with the service module.
]
] The characteristics of the observation were pretty impressive,
] especially since they took us by surprise at the time we were
] beginning our daily tasks.
]
] It appeared in the east at about 20 degrees altitude, moving
] slowly, but with a very intense shining, creating an impressive
] resplendance, and I compare it to an observation of a plane
] [presumably the headlights--EC] seen from the front.
]
] Later, it changed from a brilliant white to a brilliant green,
] having the apparent size of the full Moon, before it then
] disappeared at a very low altitude above the horizon -- only
] about 5 degrees.
]
] As a result of all this, it left a trail of white smoke about
] 15 degrees in length lasting about 5 seconds.
]
] It's clear though that it did not surpass the magnitude of the
] spectacle that was the space station Salyut 7 in 1991, which I
] was able to observe clearly.
Can anyone confirm exactly which object's decay this describes?
Ed Cannon
Austin, Texas, USA
30.3086N, 97.7279N, 165M