I have found a letter from the Project Manager of Cosmos 1, clearly stating the need for positional, as well as brightness observations: http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/watch/lou.html "To understand how well the spacecraft is working, we will need data on its position and brightness that you can collect using simple observing techniques." This would seem to be a good opportunity for all SeeSat-L subscribers who are interested to contribute to a space project. The web site seems focused only on brightness observations, both visual: http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/watch/bright.html http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/watch/form.html and photographic: http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/watch/photorules.html Many SeeSat-L subscribers already know how to make accurate magnitude observations. Those who do not, can acquire the skill with a bit of practice. Many of us also have cameras, so the photo contest should also have wide appeal. The lack of emphasis on positional observations leaves me in some doubt as to the Cosmos 1 project's interest in receiving them, but that should not stop us from making and reporting them anyway. We may well be able to fill in some gaps in the tracking coverage, leading to a better understanding of the evolution of the orbit. Since there appears not to be any provision for reporting positional observations, I suggest reporting them here, as part of our usual reports, and then one of us can compile them and forward them to the project, along with the names and coordinates of the observers. Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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