Greg Roberts wrote: > (5) A faint unknown was seen whilst waiting for a predicted object so > positions only obtained over a very small arc before it faded out. > > Details are: > > 17h27m09.2s UT RA 07h04m03.0s Dec -24d57'47" (J2000) > 17h27m10.2s 07 04 26.3 -24 47 01 > 17h27m11.1s 07 04 51.6 -24 35 49 > > Mag about +10 and variable. Suspect its debri.No chance of getting > it again. You may have stumbled upon the rocket body of XSS-11. Fitting a circular orbit to your first and last point yields this result: 1 70000U 05172.72718981 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 08 2 70000 99.0018 165.1552 0000100 0.0000 322.3023 14.09821784 01 which is consistent with the search elset I posted at the time of the launch: http://satobs.org/seesat/Apr-2005/0104.html The std magnitude of the rocket should be about 7.6 (1000 km, 90 deg phase angle), which is in good agreement with your observation. I suspect the payload is about as bright as the rocket. My guess is that the payload may still be in or near the same orbit, so a comprehensive planar search on the above orbit may yield both objects. Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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