tss sighting?
Ryan Rudnicki (RR03@swt.edu)
Sun, 10 Mar 1996 07:00:38 -0600 (CST)
I just read Jeff Hunt's tss sighting report for this Sunday morning 10 March
I saw a bright (mag 2+) point of yellowish light cross the sky at the
appropriate time (11:56UTC), moving at the correct speed (fast)
and along the approximatye path (max elev = 59 deg, azim = 178 degrees)
of TSS -- but no tether. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I saw the
shuttle. The object I saw this a.m. looked and acted just like sts-75,
which I saw yesterday morning at approximately the same time while it was on
its last full orbit before returning to earth.
Yesterday morning I also saw the approx 3 degree long, mag 3 bluish gray
tether (and through 7x20 binoculars the yellowish, approx mag 5 satellite
at the top of the tether).
What I saw this morning no way resembled yesterday's clearly identifiable
tether. Yesterday's tether pass was in a slightly darker because it was
earlier sky (11:35UTC) and slightly lower in the sky (max elev 45 degrees).
Seeing conditions were the same both days with a waning gibbous moon in
the West, clear skies, air temp around 0 degrees Celsius.
What did I see this morning?
Ryan Rudnicki
San Marcos, TX
29 53N; 97 57W; elev. 258m