Re: failed iridiums
Nancy_D'Antuono@Brown.EDU
Tue, 1 Jun 1999 15:25:05 -0400 (EDT)
>
> Did Iridium 48 fail?
> On the Visual Stellite Home Page, iridium 48 is not listed as a failed
> satellite, but on mike's site, it is listed as failed.
> So iridium 85 failed, one less satellite to produce those great flares.
>
> Kevin
Maybe not. I observed a near-overhead pass of Iridium 85 on the evening of
5/30 and it exhibited a complex pattern of brightenings and dimmings, punctuated
by two strobe-like flashes of about mag -2. The flashes were so brief that
an accurate magnitude estimate was difficult, but they were at least that
bright.
Nan D'Antuono
41.71N, 71.37W