Observations 28 May 2006:
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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.
Used with 70mm focal length f/1.8 lens,integrating for 128 frames
which is equivalent to an exposure of 2.56 seconds per image.
Site 0433 : Longitude 18.51294 deg East, Latitude 33.94058 deg S,
Elevation 10 metres - situated in Pinelands (Cape Town), South Africa
FOR CLASSFD.TLE
---------------------------
90006 00 596A 0433 G 20060528162457600 56 15 2143288-825618 39
90006 00 596A 0433 G 20060528162802700 56 15 1504279-673318 39
90006 00 596A 0433 G 20060528163113200 56 15 1433437-423637 39
90006 00 596A 0433 G 20060528163421800 56 15 1428587-230450 39
90006 00 596A 0433 G 20060528163805400 56 15 1430215-070537 39
90006 00 596A 0433 G 20060528164144800 56 15 1434138+033541 39
28637 05 011B 0433 G 20060528172459300 56 15 0445431-403748 39 +080 05
28637 05 011B 0433 G 20060528172531800 56 15 0505438-344805 39 +080 05
28637 05 011B 0433 G 20060528172646900 56 15 0540425-201543 39 +085 05
25725 99 023B 0433 G 20060528173825900 56 15 0959203+301952 39 +055 05
25725 99 023B 0433 G 20060528173825900 56 15 0959203+301952 39 +055 05
25725 99 023B 0433 G 20060528173852900 56 15 1008026+300304 39 +055 05
90053 05 551A 0433 G 20060528180955100 56 15 0855599+095636 39 +110 05
90053 05 551A 0433 G 20060528182043100 56 15 0905314+094039 39 +105 05
Strays seen:
---------------
Intelsat 601 ADb range 18400 kms
27667 91 075C 0433 G 20060528164638900 56 15 1035326+081732 39 +095 05
OAO 1 rocket steady
02144 66 031B 0433 G 20060528164734600 56 15 1040484+084848 39 +060 05
Noaa 12
21263 91 032A 0433 G 20060528172310700 56 15 0438372-420537 39 +075 05
DMSP B5B-01R variable
05555 71 087B 0433 G 20060528172930400 56 15 1000154+303911 39 +085 05
Yuri Del Rocket
10793 78 039B 0433 G 20060528174259100 56 15 1137478+061302 39 +060 05
Cosmos 1333
13033 82 003A 0433 G 20060528174457900 56 15 1124170+075613 39 +085 05
Iridium 60 steady
25276 98 019E 0433 G 20060528174919700 56 15 1140212+064922 39 +050 05
Asiasat 2 rocket
23725 95 064A 0433 G 20060528175412900 56 15 1133264+060022 39 +055 05
Comstar 1 rocket regular variability period
08840 76 042B 0433 G 20060528175930600 56 15 1143589+090753 39 +060 05
Cosmos 1802 rocket
17160 86 093B 0433 G 20060528175957000 56 15 1145319+054318 39 +060 05
Cosmos 1388
13375 82 073A 0433 G 20060528182235400 56 15 0929573+073525 39 +070 05
Cosmos 382
04786 70 103A 0433 G 20060528195306800 56 15 1343223+072247 39 +080 05
UFO 10 centaur rocket range 22600 kms
25968 99 063B 0433 G 20060528195752800 56 15 1417233-014933 39 +106 05
UNKNOWN ???
-------------------------
90027 04 841A 0433 G 20060528170557100 56 15 0629453-174158 39 +090 05
90027 04 841A 0433 G 20060528170805900 56 15 0634282-174124 39 +088 05
90027 04 841A 0433 G 20060528170953700 56 15 0638256-174111 39 +085 05
90027 04 841A 0433 G 20060528171032000 56 15 0639483-174151 39 +085 05
Notes:
------
(1) First an update - observation on 23 May 2006 of #90005 was NOT
#90005 so is a bright unknown high altitude object. Mike McCants
produced several possible orbits and two of them were tried and
did not produce anything- the one orbit being i = 12 deg, period
2.21557 revs/day and the other i = 5.5 deg,period 2.82157 revs/day.
(2) XSS-11 not seen so has moved orbit again - more work :-)))
(3) #90004 NOT seen.
(4) Unknown #91066,suspected of being #90006, proved correct so no
longer unknown. #90006 is a nice bright satellite for me, flashing
as bright as mag +3.5 but usually around mag +7 to +7.5.
(5) Re Unknown called #90027. I was looking for #90027 when I found
this relatively slow moving object and thought at first that it was
#90027 but it was running close to the element set Ive been using
for the past few times which produced nothing so this makes me
rather suspicious. In addition it was moving slower than I would
have expected and the track angle did not seem right. I got a few
points and then had to go and track XSS-11 ( which I did not see!)
and came back to the predicted track of #90027 but did not see this
object again so I doubt its #90027 ( but I could be wrong!).
Focus was not too good so object looked like a diffuse comet.
(6) The lens I was using is not really suitable for high altitude
objects where image scale is the most important requirement of a
lens. This lens is good for wide angle work but distortion at edge
of field is fairly bad. For some unknown reason it seems to change
focus from time to time so maybe something is unstable- its a
telephoto lens from an old video camera. The field of view is about
5 x 4 degrees and shows stars down to magnitude +11.
Cheers
Greg
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