I had just started watching Intelsat 402 Rk (71-006B, 04882) when there was a +5.0 flash near it. I thought it was a flashing geosynch and checked my printout and found a known one near the position, but when I looked back and waited for another flash, it was a couple of degrees farther north -- not a more-or-less equatorial flashing geosynch. Its flash period was about 36.6 seconds. As it continued farther north it got fainter until I couldn't see it. It seems like it must have been Cosmos 2050 (89-091A, 20330, an Oko), although it needs to be confirmed. Its range at the first flash was almost 11,500 miles (18,400 km). Cosmos 382 (70-103A, 04786) was nearby but moving north too rapidly I believe, and Molniya 3-13 (80-063A, 11896) was already too far north at the time of the first flash. During the time of the observation (about 3:49 to 3:56 UTC) Cosmos 2050 (which I think is a match) went from roughly RA 13:17 to 13:23, Dec +1.0 to +6.0. Ed Cannon - Austin, Texas, USA __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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