Observations 17 June 2009 Part 1 --------------------------------------------- Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System). Camera mount now carries two systems that can be operated together as two totally different sytems and computers used. Generally the DSI Pro II camera will be used for high altitude slow moving objects. Tests seem to indicate that its sensitivity is comparable to the MINTRON ( possibly better) but as its not possible (?) to time stamp to better than 1 second accuracy the time resolution is not good enough for LEO objects. (1) 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 70mm focal length f/2.8 lens,integrating for 128 fields which is equivalent to a max exposure of 2.56 seconds maximum per image. Field of view 4.1 x 3.3 degrees. Individual frames are video time stamped with GPS derived signal. (2)Meade DSI Pro II Monochrome CCD camera without filters. using integration times of 20 sec min to 60 seconds maximum depending on brightness of sky in particular area.No image processing done but some done automatically in APEX. Exposure time to nearest second inserted into image FITS header from PC clock which is automatically checked every minute against GPS signal. Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude -33.94058 deg, Elevation 10 metres-situated in Pinelands (Cape Town),South Africa FOR CLASSFD.TLE: ---------------------------- 29522 06 050A 0433 G 20090617172108300 56 15 0603350-604043 39 +075 05 29522 06 050A 0433 G 20090617172248000 56 15 0740050-365634 39 +078 05 25725 99 023B 0433 G 20090617180953500 56 15 0753590-101817 39 +070 05 25725 99 023B 0433 G 20090617181352300 56 15 0822410-122819 39 +070 05 25725 99 023B 0433 G 20090617181532700 56 15 0835460-131923 39 +070 05 25991 99 067A 0433 G 20090617181528400 56 15 0831140-141056 39 +075 05 25991 99 067A 0433 G 20090617181532700 56 15 0832420-131152 39 +075 05 25991 99 067A 0433 G 20090617181538500 56 15 0834360-115105 39 +075 05 90004 99 750A 0433 G 20090617185220000 56 15 1358057-123304 39 +075 05 90004 99 750A 0433 G 20090617185240700 56 15 1400247-112832 39 +075 05 90004 99 750A 0433 G 20090617185310800 56 15 1403329-095542 39 +075 05 90070 06 829A 0433 G 20090617190527100 56 15 1025089+051309 39 +055 05 90070 06 829A 0433 G 20090617190734000 56 15 1218536+062128 39 +045 05 90070 06 829A 0433 G 20090617190841800 56 15 1318317+065748 39 +045 05 33490 09 001A 0433 G 20090617162541000 56 15 1325547+033042 39 +080 05 33490 09 001A 0433 G 20090617162713000 56 15 1327255+032947 39 +080 05 33490 09 001A 0433 G 20090617162915000 56 15 1329280+032830 39 +080 05 Strays seen: --------------- COSMOS 2037 steady 20196 89 068A 0433 G 20090617163624200 56 15 1454290-162715 39 +040 05 METEOR 2-14 steady 16735 86 039A 0433 G 20090617163847400 56 15 1556590-264702 39 +045 05 COSMOS 1328 steady 12987 81 117A 0433 G 20090617165926300 56 15 1038360+235751 39 +050 05 SL-8 R/B variable 10918 78 053B 0433 G 20090617171737800 56 15 0559170-614818 39 +060 05 COSMOS 1809 17241 86 101A 0433 G 20090617171937300 56 15 0557270-604424 39 +070 05 SL-12 R/B 15774 85 042F 0433 G 20090617174641400 56 15 1415070+071814 39 +075 05 DELTA 1 R/B steady 10490 77 108B 0433 G 20090617174925000 56 15 1414430+064433 39 +050 05 COSMOS 807 variable 08744 76 022A 0433 G 20090617175221800 56 15 1355310+084324 39 +055 05 GRACE 2 steady 27392 02 012B 0433 G 20090617180926500 56 15 0752050-100537 39 +030 05 GRACE 1 steady 27391 02 012A 0433 G 20090617180953500 56 15 0752270-094016 39 +030 05 ALTAS CENTAUR 2 steady 00694 63 047A 0433 G 20090617183756600 56 15 0925270-003941 39 +040 05 COSMOS 1833 variable 17589 87 027A 0433 G 20090617183903100 56 15 0926490-081058 39 +075 05 KITSAT 3 25756 99 029A 0433 G 20090617162912000 56 15 1329049+034026 39 +075 05 Notes: --------- (1)All the above were reduced manually, and apart from the observations of 33490 all were made with the video camera. I have almost completed the observations made with the Meade camera and APEX but have a few things I want to check first before reporting which I will do tomorrow. Ran out of time today :-(( LOT more to come!!! (2)The two DMSP satellites tracked are a little too faint for imaging when camera used in "stationary" mode, especially if satellite variable so end of trails may not be as accurate as I would like. In the case of DMSP-15 the second point is accurate whilst those of DMSP F17 were on the limit of system. 70mm focal length is too short as I get far better magnitude penetration by going to 150mm focal length so this will be changed in future- the video system is used purely as a "finder" for the main camera. Milstar 3 Cn Rocket quite variable in brightness as was 90004 which gives periodic flashes. 90070 was a nice steady pass so no problems with the observations - running about half a minute late on elements based on Gerhard Groenewald's observation. (3)The two GRACE satellites were a pretty sight as one followed the other- easy to mistake for a bright NOSS train :-)) (4)Looks like MERCURY 1 (#23223) (used to be called 90016) has moved again. Unable to find it but I did not spend too much time hunting for it as clouds were threatening. UFO-F02 has also apparently moved as I was unable to find it. EKRAN 3 (96098) and INTELSAT 3F7 (#04376) remain as elusive as ever - dont know why they are so faint ? - Cheers Greg ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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