Obs 27 May,2003

From: Greg Roberts (grr@iafrica.com)
Date: Wed May 28 2003 - 13:00:59 EDT

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    Observations 27 May 2003:
    ---------------------------------
    
    Cosatrak 1 (Computerised satellite Tracking System), 1004x low
    light level CCD surveillance camera (0.003 lux) with 82mm focal
    length f/1.6 lens with focal reducer.
    
    Conditions terrible - cirrus and high mist.
    
    Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude  33.94058 deg S,
    Elevation 10 metres - situated in Pinelands (Cape Town), South Africa
    
    21147 91 017A   0433 T 20030527165707500 17 15 0543481-193907 39 S+043 05
    21147 91 017A   0433 T 20030527165748300 17 15 0620586-094006 39 S+040 05
    21147 91 017A   0433 T 20030527165838000 17 15 0704196+040126 39 S+040 05
    21147 91 017A   0433 T 20030527165915900 17 15 0734255+140604 39 S+043 05
    21147 91 017A   0433 T 20030527170005900 17 15 0810296+253701 39 S+044 05
    23533 95 015A   0433 T 20030527170428600 17 15 1802228-600814 39 S+065 05
    23533 95 015A   0433 T 20030527170503900 17 15 1719125-594141 39 S+062 05
    23533 95 015A   0433 T 20030527170741200 17 15 1349268-332339 39 S+049 05
    23233 94 057A   0433 T 20030527170814100 17 15 1513009-515651 39 S+071 05
    23233 94 057A   0433 T 20030527170924100 17 15 1346529-334815 39 S+070 05
    23233 94 057A   0433 T 20030527171026400 17 15 1253143-113056 39 S+073 05
    07816 75 043A   0433 T 20030527172015500 17 15 1248179-321929 39 I+074 05
    07816 75 043A   0433 T 20030527172033400 17 15 1249225-404631 39 I+069 05
    07816 75 043A   0433 T 20030527172102100 17 15 1252246-534948 39 I+072 05
    07816 75 043A   0433 T 20030527172254900 17 15 1854474-873620 39 I+075 05
    11389 79 050A   0433 T 20030527174433100 17 15 0649336-412545 39 I+075 05
    11389 79 050A   0433 T 20030527174516600 17 15 0714487-264622 39 I+074 05
    11389 79 050A   0433 T 20030527174555600 17 15 0729543-135922 39 I+055 05
    90013 03 564A   0433 T 20030527180455800 17 15 1334072+032548 39 S+082 05
    90013 03 564A   0433 T 20030527191611800 17 15 1445454+011101 39 S+080 05
    25724 99 023A   0433 T 20030527185350100 17 15 1220457-002727 39 I+080 05
    25724 99 023A   0433 T 20030527185948600 17 15 1327419-064814 39 I+071 05
    25724 99 023A   0433 T 20030527190352300 17 15 1415266-101712 39 I-010 05
    
    Notes:
    ~~~~~~
    (1) I have abandoned the use of the 110mm aperture f/1.6 lens that I
        was testing. Due to the very low contrast in the images it was
        impossible to observe satellites in twilight and almost impossible
        in moonlight as the images were completely saturated. However the
        lens performs well for astronomical purposes were the image can
        be integrated and outperforms the lens used above.
    
    (2) GORIZONT 14 was observed last week as flashing about once every 87
        seconds to about magnitude +02. This satellite is in a near
        geostationary orbit ( period 1475 minutes) and is slowly moving
        westward.
    
    (3) Milstar 3 was observed to be variable some time ago. As can be seen
        from the last observation above the satellite did a lovely slow
        flash to about -1 magnitude of which I made an AVI file off.
    
    (4) My partner in crime - Willie Koorts - has made a modification to
        his 1004x camera board which increases the brightness of fainter
        stars somewhat. He will be modifying my camera this week ( he has
        a steadier hand and better eyes than me as well as the proper type
        of soldering iron for working on SMT (surface mount technology)
        so hopefully I will gain a little magnitude as every bit helps.
    
    (5) Winter has now arrived in Cape Town and this effectively means
        the end of my observing season for a while as virtually every night
        either has mist/rain or cloud and always high humidity so observing
        is not that easy. I will however try and observe when I think
        conditions may be useable. Last night I was stopped by high mist
        which reduced magnitudes by about 3.5 magnitudes. The magnitudes
        given in the observation report are based on stars near the satellite
        at the time.
    
    Cheers
    Greg
    
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