A couple of tips for newcomers
Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Thu, 24 Jun 1999 05:06:40 -0500
Wednesday evening after observing from a mid-city location
under not-widely-enough scattered clouds and lots of
moonlight I got to thinking about how many objects can be
seen with just a little bit of effort and some luck. First,
all newcomers should know about EGP (16908, 86-61A, a.k.a.
Ajisai -- http://www.crl.go.jp/hk/slr/satellite/ajisai.html
-- photo included). It requires binoculars (except perhaps
from the summit of Mauna Kea or Cerro Tololo or somewhere
similar!), but it is easy to find and fun to watch! Its
orbit is something like 1500 km, so it moves pretty slowly,
giving the binocular observer plenty of time to scan for it.
Then it also flashes like mad, making it easy to identify!
Its inclination is about 50, making it well-placed for most
observers. Wednesday evening we had a very good pass, and
the clouds kindly moved out of the way, so I got a good show.
Also Wednesday evening, I was able to again find 99099 and
Milstar 3 (25724, 99-23A) due to some luck with the clouds,
and their magnitudes (both approx. +5.0 or perhaps somewhat
brighter?) and slow motion which allows plenty of time for
scanning for them.
Finally, the first object I saw Wednesday evening, with the
Sun only 7 degrees below the horizon, was the DSP Titan IV
(25670, 99-17B). It probably reached about magnitude +0,
and I was able to watch it at one-power for two full minutes
(again, the cloud luck was good).
So I guess my tips are: (1) if you can see some third
magnitude stars here and there, never mind clouds or
moonlight -- you almost certainly find some satellites,
including some at one power; (2) if you are fairly good at
pointing and scanning with your binoculars, there are some
fifth-magnitude objects that you ought to try to find
because your chances are really pretty good (i.e., "If I
can do it, I know you can!")
Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA