Astra 2C objects were bright!

From: Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Date: Sat Jun 16 2001 - 04:22:52 PDT

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    Astra 2C Rk (26854) -- This was a *very* bright object (-2 
    maxima I think), on a zenith pass at a range of 208 km (130 
    miles), with a flash period of about 4 seconds.  It had 
    secondary and tertiary maxima, and quite a few of the maxima 
    were double flashes.
    
    01-025 B 01-06-16 10:37:41.8 EC   59.6 0.5  15  3.97  mag-2->inv 
    
    As I was watching it go NNE, another piece from the Astra 2C
    launch (26856, 01-025D) came into my field of view.  It was 
    almost as low as the B object and was as bright as Vega but 
    seemed steady and faded to (one-power) invisibility as it 
    went on to the NNE.  But the B object's flashes were still 
    easy to see low in the sky between tree branches.
    
    Iridium "14 ?" (25777, 99-032A) flared close to -3 predicted 
    by Iridflar.  Did not see predicted solar panel flare from 
    Iridium 62, but I may have misjudged the azimuth as I could 
    not see Polaris, so the flare might have been behind a tall 
    tree.  
    
    Observed from near my apartment, which is 30.3086N, 97.7279W,
    150.
    
    Last night the first pass of NOSS 2-1 trio was one-power, and
    on the second pass the outlier and leader were also.  From a 
    rural site all three of them would have been easy to see 
    without magnification on both passes.
    
    Observed from BCRC site, 30.3157N, 97.8663W, 280m.
    
    Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA
    
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