COMETS vs. COMETS H-2 Rk

Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Fri, 20 Mar 1998 13:09:19 -0600

This cold and windy but clear morning I dragged myself out of bed to 
try to see zenith passes of COMETS (25175, 98-11A) and its H-2 Rk 
(25176, 98-11B), and I came away puzzled.  At the predicted time for 
the H-2 rocket, using one-power, I saw absolutely *nothing*.  This 
surprised me after having seen the TRMM/ETS7 H-2 quite a few times,
and I double-checked to make sure I had used the correct date for my
predictions.  Then about 23 or 24 minutes later when it was time for 
the COMETS pass, I saw a very bright (maxima around +1.5), obviously 
object tumbling with a period of about 7.3 seconds!  This pair of 
observations causes me to wonder if the payload and rocket are 
reversed; i.e., that 25175 is the H-2 and should be designated 98-11B 
while 25176 is the payload and should be 98-11A.  ... Or however such 
a mix-up would be resolved.

Seasat (10967, 78-64A) was quite bright this morning.  

Last night's observing of Superbird A, Gorizont 23, Raduga 33, the
97-68B Centaur, Apstar A1 Rk (23186, 94-43B) and a number of others 
was fun, if cold.  Landsat 4 (13367, 82-72A), another retrograde, 
brightened to about +1.5 as it ascended towards culmination and then 
soon dimmed to its predicted +4.4.  I missed a zenith pass of Ofeq 3 
due to not having my binoculars out yet.

Ed Cannon
ecannon@mail.utexas.edu
Austin, Texas, USA