Checking the picture of the Shuttle / External Tank pass I took last night with a fresh mind after a good sleep I get the following data: The Shuttle passed Saturn (as viewed from my position) at a distance of 1.24 degrees which agrees with the NASA pre-launch elements (but the time of 21:24:00 UTC, 31-MAY-08 was 5 seconds later than predicted). The apparent angular distance of the Shuttle and the ET at that moment was 0.58 degrees which (at a slant range of 395 km) would translate to a distance (perpendicular to my line-of-sight) of 4 km. Comparing this picture with one I had taken 10 minutes earlier of the ISS and a nearby Iridium flare I now put the apparent brightness if the Shuttle to mag -2 (rather than mag -3 as I reported in my original message) but I keep the ET at mag 0 as stated earlier. Gerhard HOLTKAMP Darmstadt, Germany 49.8822 N, 8.6558 E > Ten minutes later I could pick up the shuttle and the ET just a few degrees > above the horizon and follow them for over a minute until shadow ingress. > The shuttle was about mag -3 with the distinctly red External Tank about > half a degree below (still have to check my pictures to be sure for the > distance) showing up at about mag 0 - maybe a little brighter. I timed the > passage of the two next to Saturn at 21:24:00 UTC, 31-MAY-08, which was 5 > seconds later than calculated with the NASA pre-planned elements. I also > had the impression that the shuttle was passing a little higher above > Saturn than calculated. Maybe they were inserted a little to high. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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