In my excitement at finally seeing this object, and the rush to get ready for work afterwards, I forgot to give the timezone. The time given is NZ Standard Time i.e UTC plus 12. Therefore the sighting was at 18:31:00 on Thursday 27 May UTC. Incidentally on further inspection of predictions it does appear that there may still be a possibility of local decay, and I would appreciate some comment from our experts in this field, as there are no predictions of position of decay in the relevant websites as yet. : Robert. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Holdsworth" <robbonz1@xtra.co.nz> To: "Seesat List" <SeeSat-L@satobs.org> Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 6:49 AM Subject: Re: Shenzhou 5 OM - future decayer (sighting) > I finally had a clear enough morning sky to observe this object, though I > had difficulty with mist at the beginning of the pass. > > Under excellent conditions satellite was overhead exactly as predicted at > 06:31:00, and although I have no means of measuring elevation, the > prediction of 65 degrees from the following elset appears to be acceptable: > > 1 28049U 03045G 04148.35757530 .01440290 85217-5 56127-3 0 7436 > 2 28049 42.4093 81.0785 0014371 194.1706 165.8983 16.22655866 35645 > > (Thanks to the person who has been keeping me "fed" with the latest elsets.) > > Satellite peaked at around magnitude 3.4 as predicted and did not flash. > > I lost the satellite shortly after this in my 7 by 50s, partly due to a > rapid drop in magnitude and also because I was standing in a bad position in > relation to a roof! > > Sorry I do not have time just now for a more detailed report. > > It is appearing less likely that decay will occur in this vicinity now. > > Robert Holdsworth > Wainuiomata > New Zealand > 41.261S > 174.947E > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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