Obs 16 June 2005

From: Greg Roberts (grr@iafrica.com)
Date: Sat Jun 18 2005 - 07:38:25 EDT

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    Observations 16 June 2005:
    -------------------------------
    
    Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System).
    MINTRON low light level CCD surveillance camera (0.005 lux typical
    in non integration mode) and 0.00005 lux in STARLIGHT mode with 128
    frame integration.
    
    Used with 145mm focal length f/2.5 lens. I normally integrate for
    96 frames for geostationary objects which is equivalent to an
    exposure of 1.92 seconds per image. Successive images are then
    stacked on top of one another 200 times, giving an effective total
    exposure of 200*1.92 seconds = 384 seconds. Stars show up as trailed
    objects whilst geostationary satellites appear as dots if the
    inclination is close to 0 degrees or else as slightly trailed
    objects, the length of the trail depending on the inclination and
    altitude.
    
    Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude  33.94058 deg S,
    Elevation 10 metres - situated in Pinelands (Cape Town), South Africa
    
    
    27712 03 012B   0433 G 20050616171240900 56 15 0931214+045753 39  +095 05
    27168 02 001A   0433 G 20050616174235800 56 15 1130136+041619 39  +105 05
    27938 03 041B   0433 G 20050616175023200 56 15 1139525+005450 39  +105 05
    28385 04 034B   0433 G 20050616185059100 56 15 1455470+274927 39  +100 05
    28385 04 034B   0433 G 20050616190314200 56 15 1509458+202252 39  +095 05
    90003 99 503A   0433 G 20050616201641700 56 15 1803116-071331 39  +090 05
    90013 03 564A   0433 G 20050616162734300 56 15 1315306+042151 39  +085 05
    90016 03 766A   0433 G 20050616165327100 56 15 1057463+090955 39  +095 05
    90016 03 766A   0433 G 20050616173446900 56 15 1144207+074653 39  +080 05
    90016 03 766A   0433 G 20050616184220300 56 15 1300507+051909 39  +090 05
    90030 05 544A   0433 G 20050616172743600 56 15 1053171+110143 39  +105 05
    90031 05 546A   0433 G 20050616173043000 56 15 1612315+050538 39  +095 05
    90031 05 546A   0433 G 20050616221515600 56 15 2057246+042902 39  +120 05
    90033 05 558A   0433 G 20050616173446900 56 15 1141099+071355 39  +120 05
    90033 05 558A   0433 G 20050616184641900 56 15 1253171+070030 39  +110 05
    90033 05 558A   0433 G 20050616201457900 56 15 1419187+061607 39  +105 05
    90034 05 592A   0433 G 20050616184413900 56 15 1426009+060831 39  +100 05
    90034 05 592A   0433 G 20050616201252500 56 15 1554316+043606 39  +100 05
    91027 05 625A   0433 G 20050616170140500 56 15 1502343+051833 39  +100 05
    91027 05 625A   0433 G 20050616190446900 56 15 1705565+051624 39  +095 05
    91027 05 625A   0433 G 20050616202705000 56 15 1828262+051513 39  +090 05
    27380 02 007A   0433 G 20050616170140500 56 15 1502420+051554 39  +095 05
    27380 02 007A   0433 G 20050616190446900 56 15 1706023+051444 39  +095 05
    27380 02 007A   0433 G 20050616202705000 56 15 1828307+051422 39  +090 05
    91031 05 638X   0433 G 20050616164015300 56 15 1530194+005551 39  +100 05
    91031 05 638X   0433 G 20050616174653500 56 15 1637130+011259 39  +085 05
    91031 05 638X   0433 G 20050616221515600 56 15 2102137+050719 39  +105 05
    92032 05 638A   0433 G 20050616163334100 56 15 1516333+032532 39  +080 05
    92032 05 638A   0433 G 20050616164639100 56 15 1529219+023426 39  +080 05
    
    Notes:
    --------
    
    (1) Good night - cold with good transparency- first quarter moon did not
        cause much of a problem.
    
    (2) Following LEO satellites seen but positions not determined:
    
          #27429 - SL-12 R/B(2)
          65082D
          98037B Atlas 2AS Centaur
          89061D #20344 USA 40 rocket
          62060B #00447 Thor Ablestar rocket
    
    (3) Commercial geostationaries not measured, except for Intelsat 904 #27380
        because of its close proximity to #91027.
    
    (4) Bright meteor crossed field of view and left a smoke trail that was
        visible for about a minute on the monitor screen.
    
    (5) Now doing long integrations (~5 minutes) in real time.I can then
        quickly see if I have a geostationary in the field of view and thus
        can save time instead of doing a search for it which takes at least
        ten minutes, so I do save a bit of time as there is now no real need
        to repeat the whole 10 minute scan next day when I measure.
        
    (6) #90003 is a bit of a flasher with a period of approximately 20 seconds.
        Cannot accurately determine it because images are integrated for a 
        minimum of 2 seconds.
    
    Cheers
    Greg
     
        
    
    
    
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