Rob Matson wrote: "I've got a probable match -- #08585, 76004A (CTS). Predicted magnitude is +14.2, but it may have glinted several magnitudes during the exposure." CTS/Hermes was an important test satellite and is/was 3-axis stabilized with two solar "wings", each about 6.2 x 1.3 meters: http://www.aero.org/publications/martin/martin-10.html What's the theoretical brightest magnitude of a specular reflection from 16 square meters of solar panels from 36,000 km? This page has a telescopic image of it in orbit: http://ottawa.rasc.ca/observers/2001/an0104p3.html Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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