Observations 17th and 21st March 2005:
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Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System).
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.
48 frame integration mode normally , exposure is then 0.96 seconds
per displayed image.
Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude 33.94058 deg S,
Elevation 10 metres - situated in Pinelands (Cape Town), South Africa
Observations 17 March 2005 200mm lens, fov 1.8 x 1.3 deg approx.
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90005 99 804A 0433 P 20050317175003000 56 15 0813116+131524 39
90005 99 804A 0433 P 20050317190151000 56 15 0922097+115415 39
90013 03 564A 0433 P 20050317175116500 56 15 0839349+121406 39
27168 02 001A 0433 P 20050317175503000 56 15 0543599+071739 39
27168 02 001A 0433 P 20050317191032000 56 15 0659365+064155 39
Observations 21 March 2005 85mm f/2 lens , fov 4.1 x 3.2 degrees
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21798 91 082A 0433 P 20050321173412100 56 15 1428364-664544 39
21798 91 082A 0433 P 20050321173516100 56 15 1236255-671422 39
24753 97 012A 0433 P 20050321173631600 56 15 0826162+271550 39
26906 01 040B 0433 P 20050321174152400 56 15 0131442-365100 39
26906 01 040B 0433 P 20050321174309900 56 15 0103574-520620 39
23533 95 015A 0433 P 20050321174427100 56 15 1703155-731718 39
23533 95 015A 0433 P 20050321174521800 56 15 1618480-804724 39
23533 95 015A 0433 P 20050321174738100 56 15 0612162-603630 39
11389 79 050A 0433 P 20050321175000800 56 15 1409176-481435 39
11389 79 050A 0433 P 20050321175049300 56 15 1327492-445520 39
11389 79 050A 0433 P 20050321175242500 56 15 1149353-273704 39
Observations 21 March 2005 85mm lens now f/2.8, fov 4.1 x 3.2 deg
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26907 01 004C 0433 P 20050321180139000 56 15 0317270+024405 39
26907 01 004C 0433 P 20050321180251200 56 15 0321019-092416 39
26907 01 004C 0433 P 20050321180438700 56 15 0321391-334900 39
26905 01 004A 0433 P 20050321180139000 56 15 0318511+034950 39
26905 01 004A 0433 P 20050321180251200 56 15 0322304-080251 39
26905 01 004A 0433 P 20050321180438700 56 15 0324102-320800 39
09415 76 091A 0433 P 20050321181332300 56 15 0152472-165506 39
09415 76 091A 0433 P 20050321181422700 56 15 0125426-242717 39
19460 88 078A 0433 P 20050321181515400 56 15 1309266-583045 39
19460 88 078A 0433 P 20050321181559600 56 15 1418517-624151 39
23937 96 029F 0433 P 20050321181932700 56 15 1110426-213705 39
23937 96 029F 0433 P 20050321182032200 56 15 1155237-300448 39
25615 98 055C 0433 P 20050321182150000 56 15 0144240-324721 39
25615 98 055C 0433 P 20050321182239900 56 15 0107468-413634 39
08818 76 038A 0433 P 20050321183102300 56 15 0057229-773511 39
08818 76 038A 0433 P 20050321183225800 56 15 0632536-810044 39
08818 76 038A 0433 P 20050321183341600 56 15 0926559-650004 39
10502 77 112A 0433 P 20050321184455500 56 15 0021597-715953 39
10502 77 112A 0433 P 20050321184620000 56 15 0411251-812025 39
10502 77 112A 0433 P 20050321184710900 56 15 0827558-742516 39
08884 76 038J 0433 P 20050321184813300 56 15 0118596-661330 39
08884 76 038J 0433 P 20050321184911900 56 15 0230306-692345 39
08835 76 038C 0433 P 20050321184943500 56 15 0222387-695427 39
08835 76 038C 0433 P 20050321185057500 56 15 0452533-703225 39
90020 04 539A 0433 P 20050321185401100 56 15 0907555+093909 39
90020 04 539A 0433 P 20050321185522100 56 15 0916153+064657 39
90020 04 539A 0433 P 20050321185726900 56 15 0931177+014248 39
17997 87 043A 0433 P 20050321185954900 56 15 0209116-310927 39
17997 87 043A 0433 P 20050321190102900 56 15 0255209-235819 39
90013 03 564A 0433 P 20050321193702400 56 15 1042065+092332 39
27168 02 001A 0433 P 20050321194134000 56 15 0746426+061555 39
Notes:
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(1) Conditions on 17 March very poor with much cirrus and cloud.
(2) Conditions on 21 March difficult due to bright moon. I initially
started with the lens full open at f/2 but image quality was
very poor and very bright background which "washed out" the stars.
Changing the f/stop to f/2.8 improved matters quite considerably
but cut down the sensitivity which did not prove to be a problem
as all satellites attempted were tracked okay. However observing
with the moon between first quarter and full is a real pain with
glare etc making tracking difficult.
(3) Position for TIPS is centre of tether - was very easy to see the
entire tether for portion of pass tracked.
(3) Still to report:(tomorrow-all being well!)
NOSS 2-1 triplet
DMSP 5D-2 S-14 #24753
NOSS 6 (F) #14795
NOSS 3-2 duo
USA 40 rocket
NOSS 1 (D) #08836
DMSP B5D1-4 #11389
MILSTAR 3 # 25724
USA 32 #19460
90025
NOSS 1 (A)
NOSS 3-2 rocket
(4) I will probably use the 85mm lens for tracking of LEO objects. It
has a large field of view and the optics are of reasonable quality
although it looks like I cannot use it at f/2 due to my bright sky.
The 200mm lens performs well, reaching almost magnitude 13 when no
moon around but field of view is too narrow for LEO tracking if
elements uncertain or old.
(5) Ive realised that my geostationary project needs a large aperture to
hope to see most reasonably sized objects - around magnitude +16 or
so, so work has started on constructing a mounting for my 11.5 inch
f/5 mirror which has not seen starlight for about 40 years. As I do not
want to spend money on this at this stage it is being constructed out of
items lying around - ie in my "junk box". As this is hard physical work
- for which I was not designed - this project may take a while to
complete :-))
Cheers
Greg
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